1,720,985 research outputs found
Attitude Estimation of a Biologically Inspired Robotic Housefly via Multimodal Sensor Fusion
No full textIn this paper, we address sensor fusion for the attitude estimation of micromechanical aerial vehicles (MAVs), in particular a biologically inspired robotic housefly. First, a dynamic observer is proposed that estimates attitude based on kinematic data available from different and redundant bio-inspired sensors such as halteres, ocelli, gravitometers, magnetic compasses and light polarization compasses. In particular, following a geometric approach, the traditional structure of complementary filters, suitable for multiple sensor fusion, is specialized to the Lie group of rigid-body rotations SO(3) and almost-global asymptotic stability is proved. Then, the filter performance is experimentally tested via a 3-d.o.f. robotic flapper and a custom-made set of inertial/magnetic sensors. Experimental results show good agreement, upon proper tuning of the filter, between the actual kinematics of the robotic flapper and the kinematics reconstructed from the inertial/magnetic sensors via the proposed filter
A Hessian-based decomposition characterizes how performance in complex motor skills depends on individual strategy and variability
Full text linkIn complex real-life motor skills such as unconstrained throwing, performance depends on how accurate is on average the outcome of noisy, high-dimensional, and redundant actions. What characteristics of the action distribution relate to performance and how different individuals select specific action distributions are key questions in motor control. Previous computational approaches have highlighted that variability along the directions of first order derivatives of the action-to-outcome mapping affects performance the most, that different mean actions may be associated to regions of the actions space with different sensitivity to noise, and that action covariation in addition to noise magnitude matters. However, a method to relate individual high-dimensional action distribution and performance is still missing. Here we introduce a decomposition of performance into a small set of indicators that compactly and directly characterize the key performance-related features of the distribution of high-dimensional redundant actions. Central to the method is the observation that, if performance is quantified as a mean score, the Hessian (second order derivatives) of the action-to-score function determines how the noise of the action distribution affects performance. We can then approximate the mean score as the sum of the score of the mean action and a tolerance-variability index which depends on both Hessian and action covariance. Such index can be expressed as the product of three terms capturing noise magnitude, noise sensitivity, and alignment of the most variable and most noise sensitive directions. We apply this method to the analysis of unconstrained throwing actions by nonexpert participants and show that, consistently across four different throwing targets, each participant shows a specific selection of mean action score and tolerance-variability index as well as specific selection of noise magnitude and alignment indicators. Thus, participants with different strategies may display the same performance because they can trade off suboptimal mean action for better tolerance-variability and higher action variability for better alignment with more tolerant directions in action space
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Geomorphology hazard assessment of giampilieri and briga river basins after the rainfall event on the october 1, 2009 (sicily, Italy)
No full textMud and debris flows constitute a serious threat for several Italian regions as attested by recent several disasters attributable to such phenomena. The adoption of effective mitigation measures is complicated by the difficulty in predicting spatial and intensity features of future events. This paper applies a practical application of debris/mud flows hazard assessment in the area of Messina province. The study was based on an inventory of several debris flows triggered by heavy rainfall occurred in the Giampilieri and Briga catchments after the event of October 1, 2009. Data elaboration was focused on mapping source areas and on assessing the runout of landslides and their intensity. An evaluation of the factors that make the area prone to these events was used as input for a GIS based hazard prediction model. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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