1,720,966 research outputs found
I Menhir di Sorgono (Biru e Concas) e le stelle
Full text linkL’articolo discute di due possibili allineamenti astronomici dei menhir del sito archeologico di Biru e Concas, nel comune di Sorgono in Sardegna. Probabilmente puntavano verso la Croce del Sud ed Alpha Centauri.The full citation for this Article is: Sparavigna, A. C. (2018). I Menhir di Sorgono (Biru e Concas) e le stelle. Zenodo . DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.124619
An abstraction layer exploiting voice assistant technologies for effective human—robot interaction
No full textA lot of people have neuromuscular problems that affect their lives leading them to lose an important degree of autonomy in their daily activities. When their disabilities do not involve speech disorders, robotic wheelchairs with voice assistant technologies may provide appropriate human–robot interaction for them. Given the wide improvement and diffusion of Google Assistant, Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, Amazon’s Alexa, etc., such voice assistant technologies can be fully integrated and exploited in robotic wheelchairs to improve the quality of life of affected people. As such, in this paper, we propose an abstraction layer capable of providing appropriate human– robot interaction. It allows use of voice assistant tools that may trigger different kinds of applications for the interaction between the robot and the user. Furthermore, we propose a use case as a possible instance of the considered abstraction layer. Within the use case, we chose existing tools for each component of the proposed abstraction layer. For example, Google Assistant was employed as a voice assistant tool; its functions and APIs were leveraged for some of the applications we deployed. On top of the use case thus defined, we created several applications that we detail and discuss. The benefit of the resulting Human–Computer Interaction is therefore two-fold: on the one hand, the user may interact with any of the developed applications; on the other hand, the user can also rely on voice assistant tools to receive answers in the open domain when the statement of the user does not enable any of the applications of the robot. An evaluation of the presented instance was carried out using the Software Architecture Analysis Method, whereas the user experience was evaluated through ad-hoc questionnaires. Our proposed abstraction layer is general and can be instantiated on any robotic platform including robotic wheelchairs
L’architettura delle chiese nell’Italia del dopoguerra. Il Convegno di Bologna del 1955
No full textIl Congresso Nazionale di Architettura Sacra organizzato a Bologna nel settembre del 1955 rappresenta una viva testimonianza nell’Italia del dopoguerra dell’urgenza e dell’entusiasmo con i quali le personalità più attive della cultura architettonica ed ecclesiastica si confrontano sul tema del rapporto tra chiesa e società, tra nuova liturgia e architettura moderna. L’attenzione con cui il mondo professionale nazionale partecipa al dibattito, e l’interesse che il congresso bolognese suscita sugli architetti e sulla stampa straniera, attestano il radicale mutamento in atto tra liturgia e luoghi della celebrazione; cambiamento che, dieci anni più tardi, sarà suggellato dal Concilio Ecumenico Vaticano II. Il dibattito, tenuto nell’aula magna dell’università, sigilla la necessità di uno spazio sacro diverso, rispondente a una nuova funzionalità liturgica che veda attivo e partecipe il fedele; in esso, inoltre, s’afferma il ruolo urbano e sociale della chiesa-edificio nella pianificazione e nel recupero delle aree periferiche, aprendo alle forme e alla tecnologia dell’architettura moderna la costruzione di nuove chiese.
Contestualmente, la mostra – tra le quattro che affiancano il congresso – dedicata all’architettura sacra realizzata in Italia nei dieci anni di ricostruzione postbellica mostra, invece, una diffusa diffidenza nei confronti dell’architettura cristiana, oltreché un’immaturità e un ritardo del clero italiano e dei suoi architetti nel rinnovamento architettonico-liturgico. La selezione di architetture dei maestri del moderno, che apre l’esposizione, ha il valore di monito alle molte ‘stravaganze’ emerse nelle realizzazioni dei professionisti italiani. Le opere nazionali esposte ricadono spesso o nella ‘rimasticatura’ di forme e schemi della tradizione, o in una esasperazione delle possibilità offerte dalla tecnologia moderna.
Il rinnovato interesse per la progettazione di un’architettura sacra di ‘qualità’, e per una ‘sapiente’ introduzione negli edifici storici dei cambiamenti introdotti dal Concilio II, restituisce attualità e freschezza al congresso bolognese. Nel 1955 si centrano, infatti, due parametri nodali per la progettazione di chiese: il rapporto tra la funzionalità dello spazio sacro e la sua architettura; la dimensione urbana e sociale della chiesa, in particolare nelle periferie
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
The effectiveness of plant conservation measures: the Dianthus morisianus reintroduction
No full textDianthus morisianus Vals. (Caryophyllaceae) is one of the most threatened endemic plants in Sardinia and has therefore been included in a conservation project comprising in situ and ex
situ activities. A reintroduction, based only on juvenile plants, was scheduled for this species,by using transplants germinated from seeds collected in different years. In laboratory, 200 seeds were sown and all seedlings produced were cultivated in pots, without horticultural treatments. The surviving plants were reintroduced close to the natural population and these were monitored monthly. Two years later, the survival rate was extremely high (>95%), with
a consistent value of plants reproducing a fruit yield per plant higher than the values recorded in the natural population. Moreover, a consistent number of established seedlings were recorded. Our research emphasizes the importance of identifying the most appropriate micro site as the key for a successful reintroduction. The use of juvenile plants, which improved the success of reintroductions and reduced the mortality rate, together with the knowledge of the species biology, in particular the critical stage of their life-cycle, combined with ex situ expertise were crucial factors in plant reintroductio
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
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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