1,720,952 research outputs found
The Effect of Morphometry, Land-Use and Lithology on Landslides Susceptibility: An Exploratory Analysis
Full text linkGIS features provide simple and useful tools for landslides susceptibility and hazard studies, allowing the identification and the quantification of predisposing factors, and their relative importance. In lithologically homogeneous areas, the most influent factor of landslides is slope morphometry, in particular inclination, height and form. Moreover, within a hydrographic basin, landslides are coupled with drainage network. In fact landslides density and drainage density are positively correlated. Furthermore, human activity strongly influences the development of landslides. In our previous works, we introduced MSI (Morphometric Slope Index) as general index for slope morphometry, combining the main linear and areal morphometric features (area, form, length, inclination, width). Its formula is: MSI=A3D/A2D·L·Rc (where A3D is the three-dimensional area of the slope, A2D is its plan area, L is the slope length and Rc is the circularity ratio). We tested MSI as driver of different erosion landforms, demonstrating its influence in determining, on the one hand, the development and the final arrangement of calanchi drainage network (the typical Italian badlands), and, on the other hand, the erosion processes within them, mainly gullies and landslides. The present study is an exploratory application of this index to landslides susceptibility, aimed to analyze the combined effect of slope morphometry (summarized in MSI), lithology and land-use on the distribution of landslides in small catchments. The study is located in the Italian periadriatic foredeep, in the Abruzzo Region. This study has reinforced our perspective about the validity of the application of the techniques of geomorphometric analysis to the landslides susceptibility. Especially we consider this approach an efficient tool to summarize different controlling factors
Controlling grip force by maintaining a constant frictional safety margin to improve robotic grasping
No full textManipulating soft and fragile objects is a challenging task in robotic grasping. The key challenge for robotic grasping is to exert enough grip force to prevent slipping while being gentle enough to prevent damage to an object. Existing grippers used for processes like automatic harvesting of fruits, either apply excessive grip force leading to object damage or react to slip resulting in object release from the gripper. The aim of this study is to develop a grip force controller that uses tactile feedback to maintain a constant frictional safety margin over the minimum required grip force, called Safety Margin Control. Tactile sensors can provide information on friction, which is used to predict slip. An optical tactile sensor is modeled and used in simulations where Safety Margin Control regulates the grip force during interaction with various virtual objects. The deformation of the sensor’s soft viscoelastic membrane is described by local frictional behavior and used to estimate the safety margin. The desired safety margin is set to 30%, based on comparison to the way humans control grip force in their fingertips. The desired value can be tuned to favor release over damage and vice versa. Safety Margin Control is compared to two baseline controllers: React To Slip and Conservative Control. The performance is evaluated based on maximum pressure and total lateral displacement of the object relative to the sensor. Safety Margin Control results in a pressure decrease of 44% on average compared to Conservative Control, and no significant pressure change was observed compared to React To Slip. The total lateral displacement for Safety Margin Control is 0 mm, as opposed to 1.3 mm for React To Slip. Safety Margin Control provides a way forward for automated harvesting as the pressure exerted on an object can be reduced while no slip occurs.Mechanical Engineering | Vehicle Engineering | Cognitive Robotic
Infertility-related stress, anxiety and ovarian stimulation: can couples be reassured about the effects of psychological factors on biological responses to assisted reproductive technology?
Full text linkAbstractThe aim of this prospective, longitudinal study was to examine the association between couples’ pre-treatment psychological characteristics (state anxiety and infertility-related stress levels of both partners) and ovarian response during assisted reproductive technology treatment in a well-controlled sample. A total of 217 heterosexual couples (434 patients), suffering from primary infertility and undergoing their first assisted reproductive technology treatment at the Reproductive Medicine Unit of ANDROS Day Surgery Clinic in Palermo (Italy), were recruited. Psychological variables were assessed using the State Scale of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S) and the Fertility Problem Inventory (FPI). The number of follicles ≥16 mm in diameter, evaluated by transvaginal ultrasound scan on the eleventh day of the workup, was chosen as the outcome measure. No association between women’s level of anxiety and infertility-related stress, and the number of follicles ≥16 mm in diameter was found. Moreover, the male partner’s infertility stress and anxiety did not influence the relationship between the woman’s infertility-related stress, anxiety level and ovarian response. Fertility staff should reassure couples that the woman’s biological response to ovarian stimulation is not influenced by either partner’s level of psychological distress
Coco Rebecca Edogamhe: A Very Ordinary Girl
Full text linkThe work of Coco Rebecca Edogamhe (born 2001) is unique and relevant case study due to three interdependent factors: her young age and short acting experience, which allow us to observe the construction of professional narratives and practices from scratch; her debut in a leading role without prior acting training, which led her to interpret the set as a school; her identity as an Italian of Afro-descent, which places her at the centre of the debate on diversity and representation. While acknowledging her exceptional profile, she also makes a constant shift towards the notion of 'ordinary', proposing a nuanced and everyday model of celebrity, suitable for both television and digital media. Crucial to all this was the casting process, the debut during the Covid-19 pandemic, and her mirroring in the part of summer in 'Summertime' (Netflix 2020-2022). In this essay, press interviews and an in-depth dialogue between the author and the actress will interact diachronically to capture the main trajectories through which Edogamhe negotiated her public identity and began to build her professional culture
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
Análise da estrutura rítmica e melódica do coco de trupé na construção do processo composicional
Full text linkThis paper deals with the study of the samba de coco musical genre, which is practiced in Arcoverde, a town located in the backlands of the state of Pernambuco - Brazil. It aims to guide an investigation of the rhythmic beat and the melodic aspects performed in the sound of the coco de trupé, which is a subgenus of coco. Based on the musical characteristics produced, specifically by the group Samba de Coco Raízes de Arcoverde, we carried data on compositional elements used in their songs that were directed, by the author of this research, to his own musical compositions, intended for the protagonism of wind instruments in the sound of the coco de trupé, which were performed through the creation of an instrumental group in the form of a chamber group, whose name was called Maycon Nasário & o Coco Instrumental de Arcoverde. The results revealed that the rhythmic and melodic structures of samba de coco de trupé favored the compositional process for wind instruments through the
musical scales used in some songs by the group Raízes de Arcoverde, which were identified in my compositions for the instrumental group.Thus, several traditional characteristics, typical of this genre, were maintained, which presents a wealth of musical elements that can be explored by musicians and scholars in the research area of musicology and ethnomusicology, for a greater depth of the researched topic, as well as contributing to artistic manifestations of popular Brazilian music.Esta pesquisa versa sobre o estudo do gênero musical samba de coco, praticado no município de Arcoverde, localizada no sertão do estado de Pernambuco - Brasil, e objetivou pautar uma investigação da batida rítmica e dos aspectos melódicos executados na sonoridade do coco de trupé, este um subgênero do coco. A partir das características musicais produzidas, especificamente, pelo grupo Samba de Coco Raízes de Arcoverde, portamos os dados de elementos composicionais usados em suas canções que foram direcionadas, pelo autor desta
pesquisa para suas próprias composições musicais, destinadas ao protagonismo dos instrumentos de sopro no coco de trupé, que foram executadas através da criação de um grupo instrumental em forma de grupo de câmara, cujo nome foi denominado de Maycon Nasário & o Coco Instrumental de Arcoverde. Os resultados da pesquisa revelaram que as análises das estruturas rítmicas e melódicas do samba de coco de trupé favoreceram o processo composicional para os instrumentos de sopro através das escalas musicais usadas de algumas
canções do grupo Raízes de Arcoverde, que foram identificada em minhas composições para o grupo instrumental. Assim, foram mantidas várias características tradicionais, próprias desse gênero, que apresenta uma riqueza de elementos musicais podendo ser explorados por músicos e estudiosos da área de pesquisa da musicologia e etnomusicologia, para um maior aprofundamento do tema pesquisado, bem como contribuir para a manifestações artísticas de músicas brasileiras de origem populares
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
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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