Open research Europe最新文献

{"title":"Determinants of screening participation of disadvantaged populations in France: a qualitative study.","authors":"Alice Le Bonniec, Amandine Andrin, Alexandra Lelia Dima, Laurent Letrilliart","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.17317.4","DOIUrl":"10.12688/openreseurope.17317.4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>People from deprived backgrounds and people with disability have generally limited access to health screening. This study aimed to identify the factors influencing access to recommended screenings for these disadvantaged groups, to inform development of tailored screening support.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 participants from deprived backgrounds and 12 participants with disability. A content analysis using an analytical framework was performed. Barriers and facilitators to screening participation were categorized into four domains: individual, social, healthcare system/healthcare professional, and screening procedure.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Most barriers and facilitators pertained to the individual or healthcare system/healthcare professional domains. In the individual domain, fear could have a negative influence on screening participation in both groups. In the social domain, social influences (i.e. having children, knowing people suffering from the disease) were reported as facilitating screening. People with disability reported to be more influenced by factors related to the healthcare domain (i.e. perceived risk; recommendation from a healthcare professional or an educator).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our results highlight the need to better consider the environmental factors of individuals, in particular the potential influence of relatives and healthcare professionals, to improve their participation in screening.</p>","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":"4 ","pages":"83"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13555013/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148932028","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How conspiracy theories are defined: A systematic qualitative review of academic definitions.","authors":"Türkay Salim Nefes, Javier Martínez Escobar, Borja González-Albo","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.23324.3","DOIUrl":"10.12688/openreseurope.23324.3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Although conspiracy theories are studied across multiple disciplines, their definition remains unsettled. Despite a substantial body of empirical research, definitions have not been systematically analysed, leaving it unclear how conceptual variation shapes research, methods, and findings.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Drawing on an original dataset of peer-reviewed publications, this study applies inductive qualitative content analysis to identify recurring dimensions along which academic definitions vary, including ontological assumptions, evaluative orientations, epistemic characterisations, constitutive features and scope. It further introduces a genealogical mapping of citation relationships to assess whether these dimensions structure more frequently reused definitions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The qualitative content analysis finds that most definitions describe conspiracy theories as explanations and adopt a neutral-descriptive stance, with intentionality, coalition, and secrecy forming a recurrent core constellation of constitutive features. The genealogical mapping shows that frequently reused definitions share these features but differ in their evaluative and epistemic characterisation.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Definitional diversity in conspiracy theory research is maintained through citations. Making definitional choices explicit and treating definitions as analytical tools rather than background assumptions can improve conceptual clarity, comparability, and cumulative research.</p>","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":"6 ","pages":"155"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13631454/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149119784","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Practical guidelines for Bayesian phylogenetic inference using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC).","authors":"Joëlle Barido-Sottani, Orlando Schwery, Rachel C M Warnock, Chi Zhang, April Marie Wright","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.16679.4","DOIUrl":"10.12688/openreseurope.16679.4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Phylogenetic estimation is, and has always been, a complex endeavor. Estimating a phylogenetic tree involves evaluating many possible evolutionary histories that could explain a set of observed data, typically by using a model of evolution. Values for all model parameters need to be estimated as well. Bayesian phylogenetic inference is a state-of-the-art statistical method which allows us to co-estimate a phylogeny, evolutionary parameters, and obtain a detailed representation of the uncertainty associated with the estimates. Bayesian inferences commonly involve complex demographic models for the estimation of a tree, or incorporate data beyond genetic sequences, such as information from the fossil record. All Bayesian phylogenetic tree estimation software use the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm, a method for approximating the posterior distribution of parameters in a mathematical model. While many researchers use MCMC in phylogenetic analyses, interpreting results and diagnosing problems with MCMC remain vexing issues to many biologists. We thus offer an overview of how MCMC is used in Bayesian phylogenetic inference, with a particular emphasis on complex hierarchical models, such as the fossilized birth-death (FBD) model. We will discuss strategies to diagnose common MCMC problems and troubleshoot difficult analyses, in particular convergence issues. We will show how the study design, the choice of models and priors, but also technical features of the inference tools themselves can all be adjusted to obtain the best results. Finally, we will also discuss the unique challenges created by the incorporation of fossil information in phylogenetic inference, and present tips to address them.</p>","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":"3 ","pages":"204"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10933576/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144627988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pelvic floor complaint-related psychological distress recorded by pelvic physical therapists in the Netherlands: Additional analysis of data from an exploratory file review study.","authors":"Alma M Brand, Wim Waterink, Xynthia Kavelaars, Jacques van Lankveld","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.22137.3","DOIUrl":"10.12688/openreseurope.22137.3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Patients with pelvic floor complaints (PFCs) experience various levels of PFC-related psychological distress along with their complaints. Paying attention to PFC-related psychological distress may enhance the intended biopsychosocial treatment approach in pelvic physical therapy practice. To our knowledge, the extent to which this distress is recorded by pelvic physical therapists in association with different combinations of PFCs has not been previously investigated.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>This exploratory, hypothesis-generating retrospective file review study provides a first impression of the PFC-related distress recorded by pelvic physical therapists along with (combinations of ) PFCs.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Pelvic physical therapists documented PFCs and PFC-related distress as recorded in patient files in an online survey. Descriptive statistics and correlations were calculated, and latent class analyses were performed to gain insight into indicative profiles of PFCs and associated psychological distress.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A model with five profiles of PFCs and PFC-related psychological distress was selected. These profiles appear to be related to pregnancy and parity. A substantial proportion of distress was recorded with two profiles. One profile, most characteristic of pregnant patients, indicated a high probability of defecation and micturition problems and pelvic pain, including a high likelihood of insecurity, loss of control, and disappointment. The other profile, most characteristic of nulliparous patients, indicated a high probability of painful intercourse and micturition problems, including a high likelihood of disappointment, insecurity, helplessness, and sexual distress.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The results show encouraging proof of attention given to PFC-related distress in pelvic physical therapy practice, despite this not being the primary focus of pelvic physical therapists. Based on our data, it remains unclear whether the psychological impact of PFCs receives sufficient attention in pelvic physical therapy. The results could also indicate the need for a more prominent position for PFC-related distress in patient files.</p>","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":"6 ","pages":"16"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13273244/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148280324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How are European small enterprises dealing with the circular economy?","authors":"Maria Pilar García-Alcober, Ana Isabel Mateos-Ansótegui, María Teresa Pastor-Gosálbez, Josep Navarro-Ortiz","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.23303.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.23303.2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Environmental sustainability and energy savings are crucial for economic development, yet European SMEs account for 63.3% of total CO2 firms emissions. Understanding how these businesses behave when transitioning to a Circular Economy is essential for policymakers to design appropriate measures and incentives for preventing negative environmental externalities.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The study analyzed data from the fifth wave of the \"SMEs, resource efficiency, and green markets\" survey conducted in late 2021, which included 14,008 enterprises across 27 European Union member states. To categorize the companies, researchers applied a K-modes clustering algorithm-a machine learning method designed specifically for categorical data- to evaluate six qualitative business characteristics and nine environmental actions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The analysis identified three distinct business behavior clusters. Cluster 1 (6,195 firms) primarily provides services to other businesses and focuses heavily on energy savings and waste minimization. Cluster 2 (4,002 firms) is the least environmentally proactive group, predominantly selling products directly to consumers, with 21.14% taking no environmental action at all. Cluster 3 (3,811 firms) is the most active and diverse group, exhibiting the highest participation in minimizing waste and saving energy but also reporting the most difficulties. Regardless of the cluster, the primary barrier to sustainability is the complexity of administrative or legal procedures, followed by the high costs of environmental actions. Consequently, the support most requested by these companies consists of grants or subsidies along with greater cooperation between companies across sectors and consultancy.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The transition to sustainable practices remains a significant challenge for most European SMEs, who often perceive current macro-level environmental regulations (such as the Circular Economy Action Plan) as bureaucratic hurdles rather than sources of help. To effectively foster a sustainable economy, policymakers must focus on simplifying administrative procedures, providing financial support, and encouraging inter-firm cooperation and technological consultancy.</p>","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":"6 ","pages":"163"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13650320/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149167551","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Protocols for <i>in situ</i> continuous monitoring of water relations/potential in soil and leaf.","authors":"Lei Ding, Marco D'Agostino, Théo Degand, Monica Rothwell, Thomas Dagbert, Valentin Couvreur","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.21382.3","DOIUrl":"10.12688/openreseurope.21382.3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Within the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum, water movement is driven by the water potential gradients between these three domains. To have a comprehensive understanding of such water relations, an examination of how plants respond to variations in soil water availability is required. The methodologies employed for measuring water potential in leaf (Ψ <i>_leaf</i> ) and soil (Ψ <i>_soil</i> ) have undergone a significant evolution; transitioning from qualitative assessments to the use of high-precision digital sensors over the past few decades. The present protocol aims to provide a comprehensive, step-by-step guide from the germination phase of maize and tomato plants to the installation of two sensors that continuously monitor water potential in the leaf (PSY1 psychrometer) and in the soil (Teros 21 matric potential sensor). Additionally, we present the code for processing the raw data files in RStudio.</p>","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":"5 ","pages":"363"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13287980/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148320786","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Blastocystis-colorectal cancer hypothesis: correlation is not causation.","authors":"Özgür Kurt, Pauline D Scanlan, Eleni Gentekaki, Lucy J Robertson, David Carmena, Funda Dogruman-Al, Anastasios D Tsaousis","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.21693.2","DOIUrl":"10.12688/openreseurope.21693.2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Although superficially persuasive, claims suggesting a causal link between <i>Blastocystis</i> and colorectal cancer (CRC) lack robust scientific support. As <i>Blastocystis</i> is the most common gut protist found in human populations globally, its detection in CRC patients is unsurprising and does not imply pathogenicity. Current claims championing a causal role for <i>Blastocystis</i> in CRC are based on speculative correlations, a single poorly controlled animal study, and inconsistent subtype associations. We argue that linking <i>Blastocystis</i> to CRC is premature, misleading, and may give rise to unnecessary concern in patients that are colonised by or test positive for <i>Blastocystis.</i> We emphasise the need for rigorously designed investigations to establish causal roles for any microorganism in disease and the importance of conclusions being based on solid evidence, particularly in matters of public health.</p>","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":"5 ","pages":"379"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13032105/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147576892","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A crowdsensing platform for structural health monitoring of rural bridge infrastructure.","authors":"Nikolaos D Tantaroudas, Diego Zamora-Sanchez, Jose Alberto Armijo, Eric López-Villarragut, Ivan Arakistain, Tina Katika, Georgios Tsimiklis, Angelos Amditis","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.22915.2","DOIUrl":"10.12688/openreseurope.22915.2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Ageing bridge infrastructure in rural areas poses significant safety challenges, yet traditional structural health monitoring systems remain prohibitively expensive for regions with limited budgets. The Horizon Europe FUTURAL project developed an innovative crowdsensing platform to address this gap, enabling affordable infrastructure monitoring through vehicle-based indirect measurements combined with low-cost Internet of Things sensors.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The Resilience to Shocks Smart Solution integrates multiple components: a mobile application (FUTURAPP) connecting USB-C accelerometers to smartphones for data acquisition; cloud-based processing infrastructure for secure data transmission and storage; an unsupervised autoencoder neural network trained on frequency-domain acceleration data (2-15 Hz) for the detection of deviations from a learned baseline structural response; finite element models developed using ANSYS APDL for structural validation; and a web-based dashboard featuring Structural Health Index visualizations and citizen engagement tools. The platform was deployed and tested on two pilot bridges: a three-span concrete road bridge in Durangaldea, Spain, and the Diakofti Bridge in Kythira, Greece.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The autoencoder algorithm successfully distinguished between measurements consistent with the learned baseline acceleration response and signals corresponding to operating conditions clearly outside the monitored bridge response, using reconstruction error as the anomaly-sensitive feature, with the 99th percentile threshold effectively discriminating measurements consistent with normal operating conditions from those clearly outside it. Finite element models showed good agreement with in-situ vibration frequency measurements. The web platform demonstrated high usability among non-technical users, with the intuitive Structural Health Index gauge enabling immediate comprehension of bridge conditions. Citizen issue tracking features facilitated community participation in infrastructure safety monitoring.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The crowdsensing methodology offers significant advantages over traditional approaches in terms of cost, scalability, and accessibility for resource-constrained regions. The results presented should be interpreted as demonstrating the feasibility of an anomaly detection framework within a deployable monitoring platform rather than as a fully validated damage-detection methodology, since no measurements corresponding to real damage scenarios are currently available for the monitored bridges in this study. The platform represents a meaningful advancement toward digitalisation of rural infrastructure management, with the methodology and tools providing a foundation for progressive adaptation, broader validation campaigns, and methodological refinement before larger-scale deployment across European transport networks.</p>","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":"6 ","pages":"50"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13612994/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149065981","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Task-Sharing and Stepped-Care Mental Health Services in Angolan Higher Education: A Multi-Site Implementation Protocol (ANGOSAP).","authors":"Alvaro Rodríguez-Mora, Jose I Navarro, Mariló Gómez-Domínguez, Nina Czarnecka, Inidia Rubio, Sandra Mariza M da Cruz, Peter Engert, Claudia Preißer, Jerónimo S Mendes Evaristo, VilmaTeresa Dos Santos José, Jean Marie Kiombo, Mbaz Nauege, Evaristo Vitangui Gando, Henriques Jamba Dachala","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.23442.3","DOIUrl":"10.12688/openreseurope.23442.3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Higher education institutions in Angola face increasing demand for mental health and psychoeducational support in the context of limited specialist workforce and service capacity. ANGOSAP is an Erasmus+ - funded capacity-building initiative designed to establish sustainable, university-embedded Psychological Support Services across four Angolan universities and to strengthen early access to support within higher education settings.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This Study describes the rationale, service model, and early implementation framework of ANGOSAP. The project uses a co-designed, stepped-care, task-sharing approach adapted to the context of each institution. Core components include campus-level standard operating procedures for intake, triage, risk assessment, safeguarding, and referral; competency-based training and supervision; student-facing psychoeducation, brief psychological interventions, and digital resources; formal referral pathways; and pragmatic monitoring. Early implementation success will be assessed using indicators: service reach, median waiting time from first contact to first appointment, first-appointment uptake, care-plan completion. Reliable clinical change monitored using PHQ-9, GAD-7, and WHO-5, alongside indicators of reach, access, safety, acceptability, and equity serious incidents, acceptability, and equity-stratified access and outcomes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>No primary clinical outcomes or human participant data are reported in this Study Protocol. Preliminary outputs include a defined implementation pathway for university-based services, a minimum dataset for routine monitoring, quality and safety procedures, equity-oriented performance dashboards, and a cross-site learning structure to support iterative service refinement. These elements are intended to enable early-access, context-sensitive care while generating practice-based evidence during phased implementation.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>ANGOSAP provides a structured protocol to test the feasibility of university-based psychological and psychoeducational support in Angola. By combining capacity building, supervision, referral integration, and routine monitoring, the project will generate practice-based evidence on reach, access, safety, acceptability, and early clinical change. These findings will inform service refinement across participating institutions and provide a roadmap for engaging national stakeholders, including health and higher education authorities, in future policy development.</p>","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":"6 ","pages":"154"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13560541/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148957376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Investigation of YSO-SiPM detector response for alpha spectroscopy applications.","authors":"Gadir Ahmadov, Sebuhi Nuruyev, Daniyar Berikov, Arzu Mammadli, Azer Sadygov, Alisher Temirzhanov, Kairat Mendibayev, Murad Kenessarin, Ramil Akbarov, Farid Ahmadov","doi":"10.12688/openreseurope.24095.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.24095.1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Alpha-particle spectroscopy is widely used in nuclear physics, radiation monitoring, safeguards, and environmental measurements. Conventional silicon detectors provide excellent spectrometric performance; however, their application in portable or harsh-environment instrumentation may be limited by mechanical fragility, radiation sensitivity, and operational constraints. Scintillator-based detectors coupled to silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) represent a promising alternative because of their compactness, robustness, and simplified integration with modern electronics. Despite the favorable scintillation properties of yttrium orthosilicate (YSO), its applicability for alpha-particle spectroscopy has received limited investigation.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The response of a YSO scintillator coupled to a Hamamatsu S13360-3050 multi-pixel photon counter (MPPC) array was investigated using alpha particles emitted from a ²³⁸Pu source. A 10 × 10 × 10 mm ³ YSO crystal was coupled to the SiPM array and read out using CAEN digitization electronics. Alpha-particle energies in the approximate range from 0.4 MeV to 5.5 MeV were obtained by varying the air-layer thickness between the radioactive source and detector. Signal acquisition was performed using a CAEN DT5720 digitizer operated in self-trigger mode, while offline waveform processing was performed using ROOT-based software.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The YSO-SiPM detector exhibited stable and approximately linear response characteristics across the investigated energy interval. The measured deviation from linearity was approximately 3%. The experimentally determined alpha-particle flight distance in air was measured as 40.58 ± 0.87 mm, in good agreement with SRIM simulations predicting approximately 42 mm. The measured energy resolution varied from approximately 10.5% at 5.5 MeV to approximately 21% at lower alpha-particle energies near 0.4 MeV. Alpha-particle signals remained clearly distinguishable down to approximately 500 keV.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The obtained results demonstrate that the YSO-SiPM configuration represents a compact and mechanically robust detector solution for alpha-particle spectroscopy. Although the energy resolution remains inferior to conventional silicon alpha detectors, the investigated system offers important practical advantages including operation under ambient conditions, simplified electronics integration, scalability, and suitability for portable or harsh-environment nuclear instrumentation.</p>","PeriodicalId":74359,"journal":{"name":"Open research Europe","volume":"6 ","pages":"357"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13650315/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149171539","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}