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Context: Performing surgery on the anterior mandible could harm the mandibular incisive canal (MIC). To prevent it, preoperative radiographic assessment is essential. Aims: Aim of our study was to examine the visibility and presence of the MIC along with measurement of the length of MIC by utilizing cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Settings and Design: Images from 50 subjects, ranging in age from 20 to 60 years, who had their mandibles examined by CBCT were taken from the archive. Methods and Material: Reconstructed images included cross-sectional and panoramic views. The canal’s visibility was obtained from the mesial to the mental foramen and finally to the incisal extension. The shortest distance between the mesial and distal portions of the canal was determined to be the length of the MIC. Statistical Analysis Used: To analyze independent samples, t-tests were employed. Results: In 40 cases (80%), the visibility of MIC was seen as bilateral, and in 10 cases (20%), as unilateral. The visible length among the population ranged from a minimum of 0.00 to a maximum of 25.25 mm, with an average of 15.37 ± 5.59. Conclusions: Future research could utilize the differences in prevalence with respect to gender and visibility as a point of reference.

Communication and collaboration between supply chain partners is more important than ever. To achieve this, visibility between different supply chain tiers is essential. Recent literature has discussed the benefits of increased supply chain visibility, but more research is necessary to provide concrete evidence. The main question this article aims to answer is about what parts of a supply chain are critical for establishing and increasing visibility. Toward this end, this study uses the amount of unmet customer demand as a performance measure, and performs simulations and empirical analysis on multi-tier supply chains of various sizes. Results indicate that the customers (i.e., downstream supply chain) are the most critical components, and the managers must focus on increasing visibility with them. In addition, visibility in the downstream can be nearly as effective as full visibility in specific settings: The maximum gap between the amounts of unmet demand for the two settings is about 7%. However, the main value of full visibility becomes more apparent when significant deviations exist between forecasted and actual customer demand amounts. As the experiments demonstrate, full visibility in the entire supply chain is the most effective level of visibility.

Urban green space serves as an important restorative environment for alleviating the physiological and psychological stress of residents, results which are primarily achieved through visual perception. However, air pollution results in decreased visibility, affects visual perception, and thus redues the positive effects of the experience of using the green space environment.There is a limited number of related studies. Therefore, based on the Stress Reduction Theory (SRT), this study constructed 12 groups of green space environments with different degrees of visibility and compared the physiological (SCL, α-EEG / β-EEG) and psychological (TMD) restorative effects of the participants in different environments by using photo elicitation. Combined with the perception and preference of green space, the impact of air pollution on the restoration received from the environment was explored. The results show that: (1) Visibility and green space type can affect the level of green space recovery. When the visibility is poor, the semi-open and semi-closed green spaces resulted in the best recovery; (2) When the visibility is reduced, the participants' perception of the eight types of Perceived Sensory Dimensions (PSDs) is generally reduced, and the type of green space is related to the perception of air quality; (3) As visibility decreased, participants' preference for green spaces significantly decreased; and (4) Visibility will affect green space perception and preference, thus affecting its recovery. This study provides a basis and reference for the design and construction of a higher quality restorative green space environment to effectively account for air pollution problems.

The autonomy of medical trainees is a critical dimension in their professional maturation. The deployment of visual technologies within the educational frameworks of medical institutions can potentially enhance the autonomy of nascent physicians. However, the discourse on this subject appears to be underexplored. This manuscript endeavors to bridge this lacuna by delineating prospective avenues for inquiry into the interplay between imaging technologies and autonomy. Materials and Methods. In pursuit of the outlined objective, the investigation employed a multifaceted research paradigm: a systematic approach underpins the study's foundational structure; a methodological perspective, considering visualization not merely as an instructional resource but also as a cognitive tool; and a competency-based approach, positing that the accrual of professional competencies transcends mere knowledge, skills, and abilities, embodying a nuanced professional ethos towards the executed job function. Research results. The investigation elucidates a dialectical nexus between the utilization of visualization technologies and the burgeoning autonomy of medical students. Primacy in mastering visualization methodologies during decision-making processes cultivates reflective capacities, heralding the development of metacognitive elements conducive to the appraisal of personal knowledge. Such introspection potentially steers students towards deliberate choices regarding their developmental trajectories, fostering accountability for these decisions and, by extension, the attributes of an autonomous individual. Discussions and Conclusions. A review of extant literature substantiates that the integration of visualization technologies within educational paradigms necessitates a profound methodological familiarity with visualization instruments. The acquisition of visualization technologies mandates the engagement of abstract reasoning, the imperative to conceptualize personal knowledge, and the proficient execution of analytical, synthetic, and modeling techniques to articulate the resultant insights visually. These competencies, while facilitative of autonomy, presuppose an existing degree of individual autonomy, thus illustrating the dialectical interrelation between these constructs.

Since linked color imaging (LCI) has been reported to increase the color differences in Barrett’s esophageal adenocarcinoma (BA) compared to white light imaging (WLI), a comparison of the visibility scores of various imaging techniques for BA is warranted to determine best practice standards. This study is to clarify the role of LCI, blue light imaging (BLI), and WLI in the evaluation of BA. A group of 19 endoscopists, comprised of 6 experts and 13 trainees, evaluated the visibility of WLI, BLI, and LCI images in 21 superficial BA cases. Visibility scores were compared between WLI, BLI, and LCI. Visibility scores were also evaluated for lesion morphology, background Barrett’s mucosa, and circumferential location. The visibility scores of experts and trainees were analyzed for comparison. The visibility scores of LCI and BLI were 3.83 and 3.31, respectively, compared to three points for WLI. The visibility of LCI was better than that of WLI regardless of lesion morphology, color, background Barrett’s mucosa, and circumferential location. The LCI improved visibility in BA more than the WLI for both experts and trainees. LCI improved the visibility of BA independent of lesion morphology, color, background Barrett’s mucosa, circumferential location, and the endoscopist’s experience.

Utilizing data of Doppler wind lidar and L-band radiosonde system installed at Qingdao National Basic Meteorological Observing Station from April 2021 to December 2022, their detection capability and accuracy under low visibility weather conditions are compared and evaluated, specifically in terms of detection height, horizontal wind speed and wind direction, using data obtained from L-band radiosonde system as the reference standard. During non-precipitation weather, when visibility exceeds 10000 m, the wind lidar demonstrates a stable average maximum detection height of approximately 1200 m. The root mean square errors of the wind speed and direction fluctuate around 1.2 m·s-1 and 25°, respectively. However, when the visibility drops below 10000 m, the detection height and accuracy of the wind lidar are influenced by the level of interference, particularly in different visibility and relative humidity ranges. In situations where visibility is below 1000 m, the decrease in atmospheric visibility is attributed to increased water vapor content in the air, with relative humidity consistently exceeding 95%. This high humidity significantly interferes with laser transmission in the atmosphere, resulting in an average maximum detection height of less than 400 m. The correlation between horizontal wind speed and direction decreases to 0.91 and 0.94, and the root mean square error increases to 1.4 m·s-1and 42.7°, respectively. When the visibility ranges between 1000 m and 10000 m, the wind lidar's detection capability varies with the water vapor content in the atmosphere. In cases where relative humidity is below 90%, meeting the criteria for hazy days, the decrease in atmospheric visibility is primarily due to increased aerosol particle content. Under these conditions, the average maximum detection height remains stable above 1200 m. The correlation coefficients for horizontal wind speed and direction are as high as 0.97 and 0.98, with root mean square errors of about 1.1 m·s-1 and 22.3°, respectively. These results are comparable to the detection capability demonstrated under high visibility weather conditions. As relative humidity increases, the impact of water vapor attenuation on laser transmission starts to affect the detection height and accuracy of the wind lidar to varying degrees. When the relative humidity exceeds 95%, the average maximum detection height influenced by water vapor decreases to below 400 m. The correlation coefficient of wind speed decreases to 0.94, with a corresponding increase in the root mean square error to 1.5 m·s-1, and the accuracy of wind direction remains relatively stable under these conditions.

High precision measurement of visibility has wide applications in the fields of civil aviation and maritime transportation. However, for a long time, the non-uniform of the atmosphere and optical contamination under low visibility have always been important issues affecting the measurement accuracy of visibility. This paper proposes a novel method that combines a mobile transmissometer with Lidar, which can not only accurately measure visibility in non-uniform atmospheric environments, but also effectively suppress environmental contamination by using the method of single end sampling. In this method, the mobile transmissometer is coupled with the Lidar at its baseline end, thereby effectively improving the Lidar measurement accuracy with the high-precision measurement results of the mobile transmissometer. The experimental and simulation results demonstrate that this method has better performances of anti noise and optical contamination suppression, compared to traditional Lidar and atmospheric transmissometer. It can achieve high-precision visibility measurement in a large range of non-uniform atmospheric environments, and also exhibits good robustness in low visibility environments.

This paper aims to study one of Lisbon’s 19th-century cemeteries, Ajuda, from a network theory point of view, joining social organization and network theory from a movement and visibility perspective. We will study movement networks, bearing in mind when applying our method that cemeteries are organized as cities with streets and “houses” (tombs), and try to understand whether the location of these monuments took into consideration the places where people frequently passed. We will adapt the betweenness score to study movement since a cemetery is a closed space with mandatory entrances. We will optimize this idea of movement through visibility networks, considering the cemetery as a space where the existence or absence of visibility can increase or decrease attraction and consequently connectivity. In the mid-19th century, Lisbon suffered significant changes in the management of death. The many centuries-old traditions of burying people within and around churches were interrupted when a law was passed that forbade people from being buried anywhere except in public cemeteries. This led to the creation of three major cemeteries in different parts of the city, the final resting place of Lisbon’s population, independently of their wealth or social status. Our analysis will demonstrate and debate how these new places partially reflected the city’s social organization and how the evolution of burial monuments tended to reflect social and cultural practices.

This study aims to geometrically measure and quantify the view from the window of residential spaces, especially urban apartments in the northern area of Seoul, and to empirically analyze the value of the view by comparing it with the price of the house. Visibility is determined by irradiating half-straight rays at regular intervals from the measurement point and verifying whether they intersect with view objects, including the sky and natural objects (which are regarded as positive feature in Korea), without obstruction. In order to examine the effect of amount of view on apartment prices, we computed the correlation coefficient between the two. We have found that the economic value of a sky view may not differ from the economic value of a floor, while for natural objects it is reasonable to measure views across rooms because the amount of view is more highly correlated with house prices than the number of floors. At the architectural level, residents can enjoy a better indoor environment if the design integrates the surrounding views. For urban development, the criteria can be revised to enable a range of building forms that are adjusted to the human scale.

Watch a video of this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent paper by Hanci et al examines the gender distribution on editorial boards for toxicology journals and its impact on journal growth. The study finds that the United States is close to achieving gender balance on editorial boards, with 49.7% of editors being female. In contrast, European toxicology journals have significantly lower representation, with only 15.5%–15.6% female editors. The authors also note that the percentage of female representatives in editorial positions seems to have stagnated. The study suggests that gender representation should be a defined priority for toxicology journals and highlights the positive correlation between the number of female editorial board members and journal impact factor. The authors of the paper, as female senior editors of a pharmacology and toxicology-related European journal, comment on the need for change and urge for increased awareness and efforts to achieve a more balanced gender composition in scientific journals. They also provide recommendations for improving journal quality and reputation, such as increasing the visibility of female members on editorial boards and including both men and women in nominations for journal-based prizes. The authors emphasize the importance of gender balance in the editorial room to reflect a balanced scientific community and to provide role models for female scientists. [Extracted from the article]

Highlighting one's own strengths to the general public both directly and indirectly is often termed personal branding. This term is used to build people's positive perception of personal merit. This has been done by the Prophets, one of which is Prophet Yusuf ‘alaihissalam as the verses in Surat Yusuf. The purpose of this study is to find out the personal branding model according to Peter Montoya's theory conducted by Prophet Yusuf ‘alaihissalam based on Yusuf Verse. Research with this type of qualitative is in the form of library research using content analysis in the form of Surat Yusuf in the Qur'an then analyzed descriptively to obtain conclusions. The results of this study show that Prophet Yusuf ‘alaihissalam brands himself as a dream taker, and a person who is good at keeping again knowledgeable. To strengthen his personal branding, Allah the Exalted shows many advantages including having a handsome face, justifying the results of his supervision, and making people rank in the Egyptian state at that time. The branding carried out by Prophet Yusuf himself and by Allah through His kalam shows according to Peter Montoya's personal branding principles, specialization, leadership, personality, distinctiveness, visibility, unity, persistence, and goodwill.

Safe driving is related to the choice of speed by automobile drivers according to atmospheric conditions, as well as when driving in zones of both reduced visibility and of limited visibility. Reduced visibility is associated with natural phenomena, such as fog, rain, snow, darkness, etc. Limited visibility is related to objects located on the traffic lane and near it, as well as topography of the area that obstruct the visibility of the driver. This paper outlines a dynamic study of a significant problem in driving connected with limited visibility from the driver’s seat due to automobile interior equipment. The research was done implementing experimental and numerical study, obtaining the relative motion of a zone of partially limited visibility from the front left and right car pillars in relation to the trajectory of the pedestrian. At the moment of pedestrian detection, they fall into the danger zone for the car.

Establishing the value of retail space is the key to the success of shopping malls. The research in this field attracts attention, where the rented spaces have the same value to create the highest profit for tenants and shopping mall owners while providing convenience for visitors. The aim of this research is to verify the factors that form space value using scoring techniques on shopping malls in Indonesia. This research method uses triangulation with sequential and simultaneous approaches. Qualitative uses observational case studies followed by quantitative through assessment scales confirmed by expert practitioners shopping mall development. Jakarta and Surabaya were chosen as research areas with the highest population levels and the most shopping malls in Indonesia. The results show that three factors form space value: spatial layout, accessibility of space, and visitor visibility. Shopping malls in Indonesia are more dominated by one of the space value factors, while other factors are not so highlighted. These findings produce a scoring technique that can be used as an evaluation tool for implementing space value in shopping malls and pave the way for researchers interested in the retail property sector regarding strategic retail space planning, especially shopping mall development in developing countries.

Many companies are using smart packaging to provide consumers with more information about their products. The goal of our case study is to access the Near Field Communication (NFC) tag knowledge, as well as getting insights into tag positioning in food package design for better visibility in order to develop some guidelines for future tag implementations. A preliminary survey of professionals provided an overview of NFC tag usage, followed by an online survey that assessed knowledge and visibility of tag placements. These findings were further discussed in focus groups and measured using eye-tracking technology. For placement visibility assessments, well-known and fictitious packaging designs of milk were used. The results show that, due to the NFC tag’s low market penetration, consumer recognition is low, with only generations Y and Z being familiar with the NFC tag. Knowledge of the NFC tag does not significantly vary based on education level. When considering the use of NFC tags, it is crucial to define and understand the target market. If the target is younger generations, the potential to increase engagement with the product can be achieved. Additionally, to boost consumer interaction, NFC tags or other smart elements should include an activation prompt, positioned on the central right section of the packaging and distinguished by a distinct color. The influence of the design on tag visibility is essential to ensure its effectiveness.

Nowadays, disruptive events pose significant threats to organizations, making resilience a critical focus. Evaluating supply chain resilience is essential to avoid escalating disruptions. However, the literature on this topic is fragmented, and the assessment of resilience remains an open gap due to the lack of a clear definition of the dimensions and elements for its evaluation. To fill this gap, this study integrates a systematic literature review (SLR) and a systematic literature network analysis (SLNA) to propose a MAturity MOdel for REsilient Supply Chains (MaMoReS). Through content analysis and stringent selection of 15 resilience maturity models (ResMMs) via SLR, along with an SLNA on 6,474 sources, this method defines dimensions and sub-dimensions. The proposed MaMoReS is framed around five levels and five dimensions: risk management, agility, flexibility and adaptability, redundancy and robustness, transparency and visibility, and collaboration and relationships. The MaMoReS is applied to two case studies, pinpointing the practicality of the MaMoReS for measuring the resilience maturity level of the two companies along with their dimensions and sub-dimensions scoring. Thus, the MaMoReS can be used as an assessment tool by supply chain managers and researchers to evaluate the resilience of a supply chain.

This study utilizes six years of hourly meteorological data from seven observation stations in the Beibu Gulf—Qinzhou (QZ), Fangcheng (FC), Beihai (BH), Fangchenggang (FCG), Dongxing (DX), Weizhou Island (WZ), and Hepu (HP)—over the period from 2016 to 2021. It examines the diurnal variations of sea fog occurrence and compares the performance of three machine learning (ML) models—Random Forest (RF), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and Categorical Boosting (CatBoost)—in predicting visibility associated with sea fog in the Beibu Gulf. The results show that sea fog occurs more frequently during the nighttime than during the daytime, primarily due to day-night differences in air temperature, specific humidity, wind speed, and wind direction. To predict visibility associated with sea fog, these variables, along with temperature-dew point differences (Ta−Td), pressure (p), month, day, hour, and wind components, were used as feature variables in the three ML models. Although all the models performed satisfactorily in predicting visibility, XGBoost demonstrated the best performance among them, with its predicted visibility values closely matching the observed low visibility in the Beibu Gulf. However, the performance of these models varies by station, suggesting that additional feature variables, such as geographical or topographical variables, may be needed for training the models and improving their accuracy.

The density of fog is directly related to visibility and is one of the decision-making criteria for airport flight management and highway traffic management. Estimating fog density based on images and videos has been a popular research topic in recent years. However, the fog density estimated results based on images should be further evaluated and analyzed by combining weather information from other sensors. The data obtained by different sensors often need to be aligned in terms of time because of the difference in acquisition methods. In this paper, we propose a video and a visibility data alignment method based on temporal consistency for data alignment. After data alignment, the fog density estimation results based on images and videos can be analyzed, and the incorrect estimation results can be efficiently detected and corrected. The experimental results show that the new method effectively combines videos and visibility for fog density estimation.

On 1 September 2022, a landslide in Hongya Village, Weiyuan Town, Huzhu Tu Autonomous County, Qinghai Province, caused significant casualties and economic losses. To mitigate such risks, InSAR technology is employed due to its wide coverage, all-weather operation, and cost-effectiveness in detecting landslides. In this study, focusing on the landslide in Hongya Village, SBAS-InSAR and Sentinel-1A satellite data from July 2021 to September/October 2022 were used to accurately identify the areas of active landslides and to analyze the landslide deformation trends, in combination with the geological characteristics of the landslides and rainfall data. The results showed that strong deformation was detected in the middle and back of the landslide in Hongya Village, with a maximum deformation rate of approximately -13 mm/year. The surface of the landslide consisted of mainly Upper Pleistocene wind-deposited loess, which is extremely sensitive to water. The deformation of the landslide was closely related to the rainfall, and the deformation of the landslide increased with the increase in rainfall. The research results prove that the combination of ascending and descending orbit data based on SBAS-InSAR technology is highly feasible in the field of landslide deformation monitoring and is of great practical significance for landslide disaster prevention and mitigation.

Purpose: Prior to 90Y radioembolization procedure, a pretherapy simulation using 99mTc-MAA is performed. Alternatively, a small dosage of 90Y microspheres could be used. We aimed to assess the accuracy of lung shunt fraction (LSF) estimation in both high activity 90Y posttreatment and pretreatment scans with isotope activity of ~100 MBq, using different imaging techniques. Additionally, we assessed the feasibility of visualising hot and cold hepatic tumours in PET/CT and Bremsstrahlung SPECT/CT images. Materials and methods: Anthropomorphic phantom including liver (with two spherical tumours) and lung inserts was filled with 90Y chloride to simulate an LSF of 9.8%. The total initial activity in the liver was 1451 MBq, including 19.4 MBq in the hot sphere. Nine measurement sessions including PET/CT, SPECT/CT, and planar images were acquired at activities in the whole phantom ranging from 1618 MBq down to 43 MBq. The visibility of the tumours was appraised based on independent observers' scores. Quantitatively, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was calculated for both spheres in all images. Results: LSF estimation. For high activity in the phantom, PET reconstructions slightly underestimated the LSF; absolute difference was <1.5pp (percent point). For activity <100 MBq, the LSF was overestimated. Both SPECT and planar scintigraphy overestimated the LSF for all activities. Lesion visibility. For SPECT/CT, the cold tumour proved too small to be discernible (CNR <0.5) regardless of the 90Y activity in the liver, while hot sphere was visible for activity >200 MBq (CNR>4). For PET/CT, the cold tumour was only visible with the highest 90Y activity (CNR>4), whereas the hot one was seen for activity >100 MBq (CNR>5). Conclusions: PET/CT may accurately estimate the LSF in a 90Y posttreatment procedure. However, at low activities of about 100 MBq it seems to provide unreliable estimations. PET imaging provided better visualisation of both hot and cold tumours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While humans can effortlessly pick a view from multiple streams, automatically choosing the best view is a challenge. Choosing the best view from multi-camera streams poses a problem regarding which objective metrics should be considered. Existing works on view selection lack consensus about which metrics should be considered to select the best view. The literature on view selection describes diverse possible metrics. And strategies such as information-theoretic, instructional design, or aesthetics-motivated fail to incorporate all approaches. In this work, we postulate a strategy incorporating information-theoretic and instructional design-based objective metrics to select the best view from a set of views. Traditionally, information-theoretic measures have been used to find the goodness of a view, such as in 3D rendering. We adapted a similar measure known as the viewpoint entropy for real-world 2D images. Additionally, we incorporated similarity penalization to get a more accurate measure of the entropy of a view, which is one of the metrics for the best view selection. Since the choice of the best view is domain-dependent, we chose demonstration-based training scenarios as our use case. The limitation of our chosen scenarios is that they do not include collaborative training and solely feature a single trainer. To incorporate instructional design considerations, we included the trainer's body pose, face, face when instructing, and hands visibility as metrics. To incorporate domain knowledge we included predetermined regions' visibility as another metric. All of those metrics are taken into account to produce a parameterized view recommendation approach for demonstration-based training. An online study using recorded multi-camera video streams from a simulation environment was used to validate those metrics. Furthermore, the responses from the online study were used to optimize the view recommendation performance with a normalized discounted cumulative gain (NDCG) value of 0.912, which shows good performance with respect to matching user choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This study presents the application of machine learning (ML) to evaluate marine fog visibility conditions and nowcasting of visibility based on the FATIMA (Fog and turbulence interactions in the marine atmosphere) campaign observations collected during July 2022 in the North Atlantic in the Grand Banks area and vicinity of Sable Island, northeast of Canada. Methods: The measurements were collected using instrumentation mounted on the Research Vessel Atlantic Condor. The collected meteorological parameters were: visibility (Vis), precipitation rate, air temperature, relative humidity with respect to water, pressure, wind speed, and direction. Using all variables, the droplet number concentration was used to qualitatively indicate and assess characteristics of the fog using the t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding projection method (t-SNE), which clustered the data into groups. Following t-SNE analysis, a correlation heatmap was used to select relevant meteorological variables for visibility nowcasting, which were wind speed, relative humidity, and dew point depression. Prior to nowcasting, the input variables were preprocessed to generate additional time-lagged variables using a 120-minute lookback window in order to take advantage of the intrinsic time-varying features of the time series data. Nowcasting of Vis time series for lead times of 30 and 60 minutes was performed using the ML regression methods of support vector regression (SVR), least-squares gradient boosting (LSB), and deep learning at visibility thresholds of Vis < 1 km and < 10 km. Results: Vis nowcasting at the 60 min lead time was best with LSB and was significantly more skillful than persistence analysis. Specifically, using LSB the overall nowcasts at Vis 1 < km and Vis 10 < km were RMSE = 0.172 km and RMSE = 2.924 km, respectively. The nowcasting skill of SVR for dense fog (Vis ≤ 400 m) was significantly better than persistence at all Vis thresholds and lead times, even when it was less skillful than persistence at predicting high visibility. Discussion: Thus, ML techniques can significantly improve Vis prediction when either observations or modelbased accurate time-dependent variables are available. The results suggest that there is potential for future ML analysis that focuses on modeling the underlying factors of fog formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retroreflectivity is the primary metric that controls the visibility of pavement markings during nighttime and in adverse weather conditions. Maintaining the minimum level of retroreflectivity as specified by Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is crucial to ensure safety for motorists. The key objective of this study was to develop robust retroreflectivity prediction models that can be used by transportation agencies to reliably predict the retroreflectivity of their pavement markings utilizing the initially measured retroreflectivity and other key project conditions. A total of 49,632 transverse skip retroreflectivity measurements of seven types of marking materials were retrieved from the eight most recent test decks covered under the National Transportation Product Evaluation Program (NTPEP). Decision Tree (DT) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) algorithms were considered for developing performance prediction models to estimate retroreflectivity at different prediction horizons for up to three years. The models were trained with randomly selected 80% data points and tested with the remaining 20% data points. Sequential ANN models exhibited better performance with the testing data than the sequential DT models. The training and testing R2 ranges of the sequential ANN models were from 0.76 to 0.96 and 0.55 to 0.94, respectively, which were significantly higher than the R2 range (0.14 to 0.75) from the regression models proposed in past studies. Initial or predicted retroreflectivity, snowfall, and traffic were found to be the most important inputs to model predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adverse weather has been shown to be spatially and temporally variable across high‐latitude locations. The current study provides a unique investigation of limited surface visibility time periods at five coastal Greenland locations from 1979 to 2018 and identifies the coincident adverse weather, as well as the local and large‐scale atmospheric conditions during limited surface visibility time periods. Locations on the east coast of Greenland have the largest percentage of hours with limited visibility each month with maxima during February. Western and southern coastal locations have fewer occurrences of limited visibility. Warm‐season maxima are present in the northern locations, while warm‐season minima occur at all other locations. Fog is reported during each month at all five stations, however, a substantial increase of hours occurs at the northern and eastern stations during the typical melt season on Greenland. There is a seasonal difference in the percent of limited visibility hours linked to precipitation with a minimum in the warm season and maximum across the cold season. Limited visibility attributed to precipitation generally has the largest percentage of hours each month except for the northern and eastern locations during the melt season. The location and number of cyclonic circulations, as well as the spatial scale of troughs, across northeastern Canada and the North Atlantic Ocean greatly influence the adverse weather linked to prolonged limited surface visibility events. Limited visibility events at Thule, Greenland during both the warm and cold seasons are largely influenced by the presence and intensity of a cyclone over northeastern Canada. At Danmarkshavn, Greenland limited visibility events in both seasons generally have a cyclone positioned to the east, an area of higher pressure over Greenland and a cyclone positioned to the west of Greenland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on original ethnographic research in Australia focussing on the handling, management, and conceptualisation of death and the dead human body in 2020–2021. Analysis produced themes of secrecy and (in)visibility regarding both death and the collection of data. Key findings discussed are the withdrawal of information and off-the-record comments from participants, controlling of public access to information, and the (in)visibility of death and the body in the context of the mortuary, viewings and identifications, and the presentation of the body in virtual spaces. The paper argues that those who work with death and the dead in this particular context have power to shield their work, the body, and their processes from the public. Future research exploring the attitudes held by the general public towards death and the body and whether they align or challenge the death industry is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can we assess the ergonomic comfort of a sizeable spatial configuration such as the indoor space of a complex building or an urban landscape when we design, plan, and manage the space? Is there a fundamental difference between indoor [architectural] spatial configurations and outdoor [urban] spatial configurations with respect to ergonomics? Can we have a unified approach to the computational study of spatial ergonomics? This paper addresses these fundamental questions while providing a brief taxonomic review of the scholarly literature on these matters from a mathematical point of view, including a brief introduction to the modelling-based approaches to the computational ways of studying the fundamental effects of spatial configuration on human behaviours. Furthermore, the paper proposes a computational approach for ergonomic assessment of spatial configurations that explicitly allows for combined accessibility and visibility analyses in the built environment. The gist of this approach is the conceptualisation of spatial configurations as rasterised (voxelated) 2D manifold walkable terrains whose voxels have 3D vistas, unifying the simulations and analyses of accessibility and visibility. The paper elaborates on how such a representation of space can provide for conducting various sorts of computational queries, analyses, and simulation experiments for research in spatial ergonomics. The paper concludes with a mapping of the computational modelling approaches pertinent to the study and assessment of spatial ergonomics; and marks avenues of future research on various categories of exploratory, generative, and associative models for ex-ante and ex-post assessment of ergonomic matters at spatial scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To test the relationships of stochastic dominance, this paper firstly proposes two new consistent K-S-type statistics based on a quantile rule. Then, we consider their asymptotic properties. We introduce the bootstrap method to calculate the p-values of our proposed tests and use the Monte Carlo method to compare the power of our proposed test with the DD test and the BD test. The simulations showed that our test performed better than these two tests. Finally, we applied our proposed tests to compare the visibility of four provinces in China and compared the effects with the DD test and BD test. The empirical results showed that the conclusions of our proposed method are more-consistent with the dominance relationships of the four provinces. For a given significance level, the results of our proposed test demonstrate that the visibility of Jiangxi province is the best. The next one is the visibility of Hubei province, which outperforms the visibility of Anhui province. The visibility of Hunan province is the poorest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although some scholars have argued that social media provide opportunities for sportswomen to bypass mainstream media reporting, there is little existing research on how female athletes use, and experience, digital platforms. This article uses insights from studies of 'gendered visibility' alongside work on 'closeness and distance' in journalism studies to put forward the concept of 'appropriate distance' when trying to understand how these athletes manage their time and engagements online. Drawing on interviews with UK-based elite sportswomen, the findings not only show how distance is carefully managed to protect themselves from negative comments and over-exposure online, but also the significance of building connections with young female followers. Indeed, the athletes prize their status as 'role models' and seek to provide ongoing support and a sense of community in what is often an antagonistic online space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the results of the spectroscopic study of a chemically peculiar star HD 152564. Using medium-resolution (R  = 37 000) observations obtained with the high-resolution fibre échelle spectrograph mounted on the South African Large Telescope, we determined atmospheric parameters T eff = 11 950 ± 200 K and log  g  = 3.6 ± 0.2 dex. Abundance analysis revealed mild deficiency of the light elements and an overabundance of up to ∼2 dex of metals, with the greatest excess for silicon. With these characteristics, HD 152564 is a typical member of the silicon subgroup of Ap stars. The rotational modulation of the light curve and line profiles of HD 152564 are typical for the inhomogeneous surface distribution of elements in its atmosphere. We performed multi-element Doppler imaging of the surface of HD 152564. Abundance maps constructed for He, O, Mg, Si, and Fe revealed the concentration of these elements in a sequence of equatorial spots as well as in the circumpolar rings. The photometric maximum of the light curve coincided with the visibility of two most overabundant silicon spots. Abundances determined from the different ionization stages of Fe and Si show clear evidence for vertical stratification of these elements in the atmosphere of HD 152564. Meanwhile, the horizontal distribution of silicon reconstructed from the lines of different ionization stages and excitation energies appears to be identical with increasing average abundance deeper in atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Luminous skins are interactive, light-costume hybrids that reimagine the boundaries of the performers' physical bodies, broadcast their feelings, and alter their environment. The costumes are the central element of a performance that requires no stage space, no fixed lighting, no wall outlets, and no lighting technicians. The performers manage to dance through the darkness with the light they wear. The costumes are equipped with sensors and actuators that communicate wirelessly in real time with other scenographic elements. Together, they form a swarm-based scenography that involves close coordination between the performers and responsive technology to create visually dynamic and immersive atmospheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a novel smart visibility system for visualizing crowded volumetric data containing many object instances. The presented approach allows users to form groups of objects through membership predicates and to individually control the visibility of the instances in each group. Unlike previous smart visibility approaches, our approach controls the visibility on a per-instance basis and decides which instances are displayed or hidden based on the membership predicates and the current view. Thus, cluttered and dense volumes that are notoriously difficult to explore effectively are automatically sparsified so that the essential information is extracted and presented to the user. The proposed system is generic and can be easily integrated into existing volume rendering applications and applied to many different domains. We demonstrate the use of the volume conductor for visualizing fiber-reinforced polymers and intracellular organelle structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are researching a new display device that allows the public to experience augmented reality without wearable devices. In this paper, we implement an image processing system that improves the dynamically changing image quality deterioration, which is a problem unique to optical systems that project images on the real space, and specify the necessary system requirements from the results of verification of the effect. We quantify the characteristics of blur for each of the three primary colors defined as digital image data, and implement image processing that applies filter correction to the input image data during aerial imaging. Since the effect on image quality depends on what kind of imaging optical path is formed, we designed the device structure assuming that it will be applied to signage products, and built an experimental environment that can analyze the aerial image that the user actually sees. The image subjected to the correction process follows an optical path that forms an image in the air, and the user visually recognizes the image with emphasized edges. We compared the results of the actual aerial image and the simulation results, and clarified the system requirements for realizing an image processing system with higher correction accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visibility high-precision measurement has a wide range of applications in the field of aviation and navigation. This paper proposes and designs a visibility measuring system based on a multi-reflection cell. In terms of the definition of the meteorological optical range (MOR), this system calculates the distance at which the beam is attenuated to 5% by means of multiple reflections with a long propagation distance, so as to obtain accurate atmospheric visibility. Different from the short-distance ring-down cavity with a length of 0.5 m, the length of the multi-reflection cell of this system can reach more than 10 m. Compared with the traditional transmissive method, the calculation results are more in line with the real situation of the atmospheric environment because the atmospheric non-uniformity and inversion parameters are considered. Experiments show that this method has better robustness and can stably measure atmospheric visibility under the condition of limited equipment space with an error of 5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do we interpret the extraordinary visibility and ordinariness of social media as delivery workers resist their precarious working lives? Drawing on fieldwork, interviews, photo elicitation, and digital data collection in Turkey with a focus on delivery workers' strikes in early 2022, we argue that understanding the delivery workers' movement requires not only considering spectacular strikes and social media protests but also workers' everyday forms of resistance and their ordinary uses of social media as part of what we call weapons of the gig. Although not as visible as spectacular street action and social media campaigns, these weapons (motorcycle drivers' solidarity, algorithmic resistance, and social media use for information sharing, as well as production of humor and resentment) enable the subtle formation of a movement. Our contribution lies in reframing social media use as both an ordinary and extraordinary weapon of delivery workers and approaching workers' solidarity as a question of continuum. Enabling us to look beyond the antagonisms in the labor process and locate affective tensions in the everyday, this approach allows for seeing workers not only as economic but also as political and affective subjects demanding freedom and searching for meaningful connection in their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study explores the (re)negotiated visuality of television journalism during the first wave of the epidemic in Slovenia and on this basis examines the visibility of the COVID-19 crisis. Institutionalised procedures and relations of production together with the conventional visual-aural news form are analysed by assessing journalism's (cl)aims of bringing relevant events and disputes to public attention, uncovering hidden social realities, and enabling people to engage in public life. By combining qualitative interviews with journalists and editors of public television and the leading commercial broadcaster with ethnographic content analysis of the lead news packages, the study reveals "not as neat television like before the epidemic", albeit a detailed analysis of the mechanisms for ensuring veracity in the newscasts showed "business as usual" in television journalism. Although the two newsrooms (cl)aimed to be performing in line with the journalism's normative foundations, chiefly monitoring disputes, deviances and changes, making them visible for people in their public engagements and encounters with power, the study points to the emergence of "kaleidoscopic vision". Namely, television journalism provided a shifted, fractured and scrambled vision of the COVID-19 crisis defined by competing, conflicting and dysfunctional narratives articulated in the contradictory (dis)connect within the journalism–power–citizenry nexus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article wants to answer three questions: first, why is not only sensibility but visibility important for modern democracy? Second, why is art or aesthetic experience important for both democracy and visibility? And third, how is it possible that aesthetic experience generates effects that conduce to democracy? Answering these questions aims at highlighting an inner connection between democracy, feelings and aesthetics. For a democratic community, on the one hand, cannot exclude feelings from political discourse, but, on the other hand, cannot accept them in their immediate and absolute form. Feelings need 'transformation', and the best popular medium for this is aesthetic experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Free-space optical (FSO) communication is a line-of-sight (LOS) communication technology that uses light, typically lasers, to transmit data through the atmosphere. FSO can provide high data transfer rates, but factors like weather conditions can affect its performance. Like fog, smog also degrades the availability and reliability of FSO links, as the particulate matter (PM) present in smog scatters the light beam, causing perceptible attenuation. In this paper, we have investigated the attenuation of an optical signal under laboratory-controlled smog conditions, using both theoretical and experimental approaches. A 6 m long acrylic chamber is used to contain artificial smog and measure the optical attenuation through it. The experimental result shows that smog attenuation is approximately 1.705 times more than fog attenuation. The findings of this study offer valuable insights into the effects of smog on optical links and can contribute to the development and optimization of these systems in regions with high levels of smog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report documents the fifth National Academy of Kinesiology Doctoral Program Evaluation (DPE) for U.S. doctoral programs in kinesiology. Three years (2020–2022) of data were collected and analyzed from doctoral programs at 35 institutions. Eleven faculty indices and six student indices were used to rank doctoral programs. Total T-scores (unadjusted and adjusted for both faculty size and outlying scores) were calculated to create two rankings. Correlations of indices' T-scores with total T-score were calculated to inform potential refinement of the National Academy of Kinesiology DPE. Participating programs varied widely in title, disciplinary emphasis/Classification of Instructional Program code, and number (5–37) of faculty. The mean number of doctoral faculty and students increased from the fourth DPE cycle. The correlations of most indices with total program T-score had values similar to those reported in the previous DPE cycles. Demographic data are reported and discussed for ranked and some unranked indices for program benchmarking and consideration for refinement of future DPE cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optical communication network is a laser-based technology technique that transmits data through line-of-sight seamlessly. Free-Space Optics (FSO) based on optical technology permits transmission at a data rate of 2.5 Gbps, voice, and air-based video, with seamless and secure connectivity without securing spectrum licenses. The major challenge of FSO link implementation is the vulnerability to atmospheric phenomena, which include temperature, relative humidity, and cloud cover. The objective of this work is to characterize and assess the spatial distributions of atmospheric parameters and their possible impacts on optical signals over Nigeria. Five (5) years (Jan 2012–Dec 2016), atmospheric parameters (visibility, temperature, and relative humidity) are obtained from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts over selected locations in Nigeria (Abuja, Port-Harcourt, Ilorin, Jos, Ikeja, Makurdi, and Sokoto). The main goals are to intercompare the visibility data with temperature and relative humidity on a monthly and seasonal (dry, onset of rainy period, intense period, and cessation period) basis. Also, spatial distributions of the atmospheric parameters were examined to quantify the distributions and their possible impact on optical propagation links in Nigeria. According to the findings, Sahel Savanna regions are more vulnerable to optical signal attenuation up to about 0.68 dB/km due to the additional impact of dust particles, followed by coastal regions with about 0.66 dB/km due to proximity to the sea and industrial fumes from oil refineries, which may affect air particles and increase cloud cover. A proper adaptive measure is recommended to improve the optical propagation links in these regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]