1,720,965 research outputs found
Il pendolo della normativa italiana antiterrorista tra prevenzione e repressione
No full textThis essay deals analytically with the evolution of Italian legislation
on terrorism and the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters. The analysis
focuses in particular on the attempt to find a balance between guarantees and
protectio
Trondhjemitic evolution caused by compaction of a crystal mush: an example from southern Calabria (Italy)
No full text
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
Enabling Model-Based Design for Real-Time Spike Detection
No full textGoal: This study addresses the inherent difficulties in the creation of neuroengineering devices for real-time neural signal processing, a task typically characterized by intricate and technically demanding processes. Beneath the substantial hardware advancements in neurotechnology, there is often rather complex low-level code that poses challenges in terms of development, documentation, and long-term maintenance. Methods: We adopted an alternative strategy centered on Model-Based Design (MBD) to simplify the creation of neuroengineering systems and reduce the entry barriers. MBD offers distinct advantages by streamlining the design workflow, from modelling to implementation, thus facilitating the development of intricate systems. A spike detection algorithm has been implemented on a commercially available system based on a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) that combines neural probe electronics with configurable integrated circuit. The entire process of data handling and data processing was performed within the Simulink environment, with subsequent generation of hardware description language (HDL) code tailored to the FPGA hardware. Results: The validation was conducted through in vivo experiments involving six animals and demonstrated the capability of our MBD-based real time processing (latency <= 100.37 s) to achieve the same performances of offline spike detection. Conclusions: This methodology can have a significant impact in the development of neuroengineering systems by speeding up the prototyping of various system architectures. We have made all project code files open source, thereby providing free access to fellow scientists interested in the development of neuroengineering systems
Model-based online implementation of spike detection algorithms for neuroengineering applications
No full text: Traditional methods for the development of a neuroprosthesis to perform closed-loop stimulation can be complex and the necessary technical knowledge and experience often present a high barrier for adoption. This paper takes a novel Model-Based Design approach to simplifying such closed-loop system development, and thereby lowering the adoption barrier. This work implements a computational model of different spike detection algorithms in Simulink® and compares their performances by taking advantage of synthetic neural signals to evaluate suitability for the intended embedded implementation. Clinical Relevance--- Closed-loop systems have been demonstrated to be suitable for brain repair strategies. Coupling two different brain areas by means of a neuroprosthesis can potentially lead to restoration of communication by inducing activity-dependent plasticity
Towards personalized electroceutical therapy: electrophysiological investigations in a preclinical model of ischemic lesion
No full textStroke is one of the main causes of long-term disability worldwide. Recently, an activity-dependent intracortical microstimulation technique demonstrated the capability of closed loop approaches to better entrain network activity with respect to standard random stimulation. This was demonstrated at the pre-clinical level, in rodent models following an ischemic lesion in the primary motor cortex. At the clinical level, stimulation-based therapy still relies on standardized protocols with not so convincing results. A possible explanation for these inconsistencies is the lack of tailored, personalized stimulation protocols. In this study, we aimed at investigating the changes in the electrophysiological activity occurring in a preclinical model of focal lesion and the subsequent effect of a personalized, open-loop stimulation therapy. We adopted anesthetized Long-Evans rats undergoing a focal ischemic injury in the caudal forelimb area (i.e., CFA). Microelectrode arrays were inserted in the ipsilesional rostral forelimb area (i.e., RFA) to record spike activity and in the somatosensory cortex (i.e., S1) also to deliver intracortical microstimulation. We found that the ischemic injury in CFA led to an overall decrease of the spiking activity both in RFA and S1. A neurostimulation treatment with tailored open loop microstimulation tended to increase the firing activity in both RFA and S1. Further studies will be necessary to confirm these preliminary findings, which can lead to design novel electroceutical therapies for stroke rehabilitation
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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