130,404 research outputs found
MeSH term explosion and author rank improve expert recommendations
No full textInformation overload is an often-cited phenomenon that reduces the productivity, efficiency and efficacy of scientists. One challenge for scientists is to find appropriate collaborators in their research. The literature describes various solutions to the problem of expertise location, but most current approaches do not appear to be very suitable for expert recommendations in biomedical research. In this study, we present the development and initial evaluation of a vector space model-based algorithm to calculate researcher similarity using four inputs: 1) MeSH terms of publications; 2) MeSH terms and author rank; 3) exploded MeSH terms; and 4) exploded MeSH terms and author rank. We developed and evaluated the algorithm using a data set of 17,525 authors and their 22,542 papers. On average, our algorithms correctly predicted 2.5 of the top 5/10 coauthors of individual scientists. Exploded MeSH and author rank outperformed all other algorithms in accuracy, followed closely by MeSH and author rank. Our results show that the accuracy of MeSH term-based matching can be enhanced with other metadata such as author rank
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe 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
"Closing the R&D Gap, Evaluating the Sources of R&D Spending"
No full textBoth spending and tax policies have been implemented in the United States with the goal of stimulating private sector research and development (R&D). Karier questions whether current R&D policy, especially the research and experimentation tax credit, can contribute to closing the gap between nondefense expenditures on R&D in the United States and such expenditures in other countries, such as Japan and Germany. He also explores possible changes to our current R&D policy to make it more effective.
New tecnologies for mobile mapping
No full textThis paper deals with the development of a low cost UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) devoted to early impact phase in case of environmental disasters, based on geomatics techniques. "Pelican" is a low-cost UAV prototype equipped with a photogrammetric payload that will allows reconnaissance operations in remote areas and rapid mapping production. Different digital sensors installed in the payload allow to acquire high resolution frame images. Furthermore a GPS/INS unit will enable an automated navigation (except take-off and landing). The project is supported by ITHACA (Information Technology for Humanitarian Assistance, Cooperation and Action), an association founded by Politecnico di Torino and SiTI (Istituto Superiore sui Sistemi Territoriali per l'Innovazione) in cooperation with WFP (World Food Programme) and some private and public organisms, with the main goal to carry on operational and research activities in the field of geomatics for analysis, evaluation and mitigation of natural and manmade hazards. The main technical features of the UAV and the on-board payload are detailed described in the first part of the paper. Furthermore first results of stereopairs orientation, case studies and further developments are presented
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe 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
Fast and Simple Qubit-Based Synchronization for Quantum Key Distribution
No full textWe propose Qubit4Sync, a synchronization method for quantum-key-distribution (QKD) setups, based on the same qubits exchanged during the protocol and without requiring additional hardware other than that necessary to prepare and measure the quantum states, in a similar fashion to the clock recovery used in classical communications. Our approach introduces a cross-correlation algorithm with low computational complexity for high channel losses. We test the robustness of our scheme in a real QKD implementation, and we believe it may find application in other quantum communication protocols
Scholarly Communication and Publishing Lunch and Learn Talk #11: The ULS Open Access Author Fee Fund
No full textAt the May 2014 talk, you will learn about the ULS Open Access Author Fee Fund--what it is, why we do it, how it works, and how the program is going so far
100 kHz satellite laser ranging demonstration at Matera Laser Ranging Observatory
No full textThe new challenges related to the monitoring of Earth’s shape and motion have led the global geodetic observing system to set more stringent requirements on the precision and stability of the terrestrial reference frame (TRF). The achievement of this ambitious goal depends on the improvement of space geodesy techniques, satellite laser ranging (SLR) in particular, being the main instrument for TRF realization. In this work, we study the potential of very high repetition rate SLR by performing a data acquisition campaign with an Ekspla “Atlantic 60” 100 kHz repetition rate laser at the Matera Laser Ranging Observatory (MLRO). This system constitutes an increase of two orders of magnitude in repetition rate with respect to the current SLR stations, while maintaining a good single-shot timing performance. The system has been active for 4 consecutive nights, consistently tracking several low Earth orbit satellites as well as LAGEOS 1 and 2. The results have shown a single-shot time jitter close to other stations, but with unprecedented statistics for ≈ 10 ps single-shot precision. The analysis of the residuals of LAGEOS satellites allowed us to identify multiple peaks, due to the retroflection from different corner cubes. This opens up the possibility of attitude determination of retroreflector arrays, as well as a new method for spin rate measurement
Low cost UAV for post-disaster assessment
No full textThe main objective of early impact analysis after a disaster is to produce georeferenced data about the affected areas, in support of humanitarian action. Crucial information are the identification of the hitten areas and the estimation of the number of people involved. Satellite imageries are mainly used as input data for early impact analysis at small and medium map scale (i.e. floods events). Analyses aimed at defining the damages to infrastructures and/or to facilities (i.e. earthquakes) require suitable data for large scale analyses, as far as high resolution satellite images. Unfortunately, such images are not always available in a few days after the event, therefore in situ surveys are preferred. ITHACA (Information Technology for Humanitarian Assistance, Cooperation and Action) - a non profit association with the main goal to carry on operational and research activities in the field of geomatics for analysis, evaluation and mitigation of natural and manmade hazards - is developing a low cost mini UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) devoted to the early impact analyses. The aim of the UAV project is to develop a low cost aerial platform capable of autonomous flight and equipped with a photogrammetric payload for rapid mapping purposes. The main requirements for this type of UAV are to be easily transportable and usable on the field, autonomously, by a couple of operators. Therefore, it was decided to customise the MH2000 platform designed and patented by the Department of Aerospace Engineering (DIASP) of the Politecnico di Torino. The current configuration of the UAV allows to carry onboard digital sensors for video and imagery acquisition. The sensors are mounted in a pod placed on the belly of the fuselage, that can be remotely controlled through a direct link to the autopilot board that allows to schedule automatic acquisitions at defined time intervals or planned positions. A real-time video downlink of the over-passed areas is provided. Several test flights were performed in order to set up the control parameters of UAV and to analyse the capability of performing autonomous flights according to the defined flight-path. Two photogrammetric surveys aimed at calculating the achievable 3-D accuracy have been peformed over a flight centre and an archaeological site (both located in Italy). Results of both tests will be shown in detail
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