1,721,070 research outputs found
On the robustness of the detection of relevant sets in complex dynamical systems
No full textThe identification of system’s parts that rule its dynamics and the understanding of its dynamical organisation is a paramount objective in the analysis of complex systems. In previous work we have proposed the Dynamical Cluster Index method, which is based on information-theoretical measures. This method makes it possible to identify the components of a complex system that are relevant for its dynamics as well as their relation in terms of information flow. Complex systems’ organisation is often characterised by intertwined components. The detection of such dynamical structures is a prerequisite for inferring the hierarchical organisation of the system. The method relies on a ranking based on a statistical index, which depends on a reference system (the homogeneous system) generated according to a parametrised sampling procedure. In this paper we address the issue of assessing the robustness of the method against the homogeneous system generation model. The results show that the method is robust and can be reliably applied to the analysis of data from complex system dynamics in general settings, without requiring particular hypotheses
A Combined Preprocessing Method for Retinal Vessel Detection Towards Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy Screening
No full textIn this paper, the problem of detecting blood vessels in retinal images
with early proliferative retinopathy is faced by highlighting vessels both in retina
background and in the optic disc. For this purpose, a Combined Method for
preprocessing fundus oculi images is developed. In detail, each retinal vessel
image is enhanced via a contrast-limited adaptive histogram equalization after
applying a suitable operator for feature extraction. Then, the proposed Combined
Preprocessing Method is synthesized to modify each contrast-enhanced retinal
image using both a Two-dimensional Matched filtering and a 2D Gabor Wavelet
Transformation for vessel highlighting. Combination and segmentation of preprocessed
images are subsequently performed and binary maps of retinal vessels are
finally derived. The effectiveness of the proposed method is evaluated on obtained
outcomes and results are compared to those obtained with available techniques
On the dynamics of autocatalytic cycles in protocell models
No full textThe emergence of autocatalytic sets of molecules seems to have played an important role in the origin of life, allowing a sustainable systems’ growth and reproduction. Several frameworks have been proposed, one of the most recent and promising being that of RAF (Reflexively Autocatalytic-Food generated) sets. As it often happens when topological properties only are taken into account, RAFs are however only potentially able of supporting continuous growth. Dynamics can also play a significant role: it is shown here how dynamical interactions may sometimes lead to unexpected behaviors
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
“Smart traffic”: An IoT traffic monitoring system based on open source technologies on the cloud
No full textThe constantly increasing importance of cloud computing and Internet of Things (IoT) has led to solutions able to integrate heterogenous and diverse systems as well manage big data. This is especially true in Smart City environments with respect to traffic monitoring. Furthermore, cloud computing, and the various technologies around it are quickly becoming a must in the education domain. Unlike traditional education, it promotes the use of computing infrastructures anywhere and at any time, without restrictions. In this paper, we present our experience in using cloud computing technologies for a computing science course on Software Quality, with fourth-year undergraduate students at the University of Alberta, Canada. In particular, the paper illustrates how students have been actively involved in carrying out a real project and coordinated their project work among the class groups thanks to cloud technologies. Project work consisted in building a scalable system for an urban IoT environment of traffic monitoring and routing based on open source technologies and publicly available data from the city of Edmonton, Alberta in Canada
Teaching Cyber Security: The Hack-Space Integrated Model
Full text linkNowadays cyber security is becoming an ever more stringent requirement and warned by organizations and companies all over the world. Furthermore, the educational offer on the topic is still modest and universities are
struggling to design training courses capable of producing professionals directly
employable. In this work, this need is addressed with the proposal of an integrated model "The Hack Space", developed within the Master of Science in
Computer Security of the University of Bari, composed of four main elements:
Organization, Knowledge, Skills/Tools and Collaboration. The Hack Space
aims to create professionals capable of dealing with security at various levels,
with clear ideas on what are the processes, functions and controls useful for security, using an in-depth knowledge structure of the company
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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