1,720,957 research outputs found
FULL SCALE TESTS OF THE BASE-ISOLATION SYSTEM FOR AN EMERGENCY HOSPITAL
Full text linkThe paper presents the results of some full-scale tests regarding the base-isolation system of the emergency room building of the polyclinic hospital in Palermo (Italy). This building has been recently realized and its base isolation system is characterized by double friction pendulum isolators. Static lateral pushing tests were aimed at identifying fundamental mechanical properties of the whole isolation level (e.g. friction forces and stiffness) in order to verify the agreement with the design hypotheses. Further dynamic tests provided different displacements of the isolated base followed by the instantaneous release (snap-back tests), in order to verify the effectiveness, the mechanical parameter in dynamics and re-centering capacity of the isolation system. The design of both the types of test and the respective results and interpretations are illustrated in the paper highlighting a number of issues arising when arranging such kind of investigations on full scale buildings
A SOLUTION FOR QUARRY LIMESTONE DUST RECYCLING
No full textQuarry dust is a product of the extracting process. In quarrying activities, the rock is extracted and transformed into various sizes: as a waste, a fine aggregate generally useless to be disposed of and able to produce environmental pollution is produced. The disposal of this type of waste is a further cost of the extracting process, further it is a risk especially for subsoil reserves of wa-ter that can be easily reached during rainfalls and for the sea when quarries are close to the coast. The productive use of quarry dust with the double aim of disposal and protection of the environment seems a right strategy. The Italian-Maltese extracting industry covers a great segment in the world with a great produc-tion of fine waste that has become a problem to be solved rapidly. In some cases quarries are lo-cated close to protected areas and to the sea with higher risk for the environment (an example is the limestone extracting industry of Trapani). In this context, the paper reviews the strategies proposed in the use of limestone fine waste, especially for concrete, and discusses an experi-mental program aimed to observe the modification of the mechanical properties of concrete made by substituting partially the fine aggregate (sand) with the fine limestone waste produced in the area of Trapani
Vibration Tests and Structural Identification of the Bell Tower of Palermo Cathedral
Full text linkBackground: The recent seismic events in Italy have underlined once more the need for seismic prevention for historic constructions of architectural interest and in general, the building heritage. During the above-mentioned earthquakes, different masonry monumental buildings have been lost due to the intrinsic vulnerability and ageing that reduced the structural member strength. This has made the community understand more that prevention is a necessary choice for the protection of monuments. Objective: The paper aims at demonstrating a strategy of investigation providing the possibility of health judgment, identifying a computational model for the assessment of structural capacity under service and exceptional loading like/due to high-intensity earthquakes. Considering its cost, the proposed approach is applicable only for monumental buildings. In detail, activity regarding the Bell Tower of the Palermo Cathedral is described. This investigation is framed in a huge campaign aimed at assessing the health of monuments in Palermo and their capacity to resist expected seismic actions. Methods: The process of the dynamic identification of the Bell Tower of Palermo Cathedral is discussed starting from the measurement of the response by high sensitivity seismometers and the analysis of the response signals. Then, the formulation of a Finite Element (FE) model of the tower is proposed after the identification of the main modal shapes. Once the Finite Element (FE) model was assessed, it was possible to evaluate the Bell Tower safety level in service and faced with exceptional loads. Results: The structural signals recorded along the height of the tower were analyzed to recognize the variation of the frequency content varying the external environmental loads. The signals were processed to obtain the experimental modal shapes. An FE model was defined whose mechanical parameters were successfully calibrated to give the experimental modal shapes. Conclusion: The analysis of the response signals made it possible to identify the actual behavior of the structure and its compatibility with the service loads. Further, an effective structural model of the Bell Tower of Palermo Cathedral was possible for assessing its capacity level
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
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
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
- …
