1,721,018 research outputs found
Non-Linear Adapted Spatio-Temporal Filter for Single-Trial Identification of Movement-Related Cortical Potential
Full text linkThe execution or imagination of a movement is reflected by a cortical potential that can be recorded by electroencephalography (EEG) as Movement-Related Cortical Potentials (MRCPs). The identification of MRCP from a single trial is a challenging possibility to get a natural control of a Brain–Computer Interface (BCI). We propose a novel method for MRCP detection based on optimal non-linear filters, processing different channels of EEG including delayed samples (getting a spatio-temporal filter). Different outputs can be obtained by changing the order of the temporal filter and of the non-linear processing of the input data. The classification performances of these filters are assessed by cross-validation on a training set, selecting the best ones (adapted to the user) and performing a majority voting from the best three to get an output using test data. The method is compared to another state-of-the-art filter recently introduced by our group when applied to EEG data recorded from 16 healthy subjects either executing or imagining 50 self-paced upper-limb palmar grasps. The new approach has a median accuracy on the overall dataset of 80%, which is significantly better than that of the previous filter (i.e., 63%). It is feasible for online BCI system design with asynchronous, self-paced applications
Life Cycle Management delle pavimentazioni stradali
No full textOrmai parola chiave della nostra società, la sostenibilità è al centro
di ricerche e dibattiti. La comunità scientifica si impegna da anni nella definizione
di strumenti e metodologie comuni per riuscire a quantificarla, proponendo
standard e linee guida basate sull’analisi del ciclo di vita, come il Life
Cycle Assessment (LCA), di prodotti e processi. Nell’ambito dell’ingegneria
civile esistono procedure standardizzate a livello internazionale per svolgere
esercizi di Sustainability Assessment; queste risultano ben strutturate per
gli edifici, meno dettagliate invece per altre opere, come le pavimentazioni
stradali. Questo lavoro presenta il risultato principale del progetto “PavementLCM”,
nato con l’obiettivo di condurre i principali gestori delle strade
europee a fornirsi di specifiche linee guida per l’utilizzazione dei risultati
del Sustainability Assessment, basato sulle Life Cycle-based techniques, e
di analisi multi-criterio, per la valutazione della sostenibilità di materiali,
tecnologie e strategie manutentive delle pavimentazioni stradali
Translating Metonymy in the Holy Qur'an: Surat an-Nisa as a Case Study
No full textA Master of Arts thesis in Translation and Interpreting MATI (English/Arabic/English) by Alaa Gamal Abdelhakim Muhammad entitled, "Translating Metonymy in the Holy Qur'an: Surat an-Nisa as a Case Study," submitted in February 2017. Thesis advisor is Dr. Usman Ghani. Soft and hard copy available.This thesis, as its title suggests, is mainly concerned with exploring the linguistically beautiful and rhetorically instrumental role played by metonymy throughout the Holy Qur'an, with special emphasis on Surat an-Nisa, the fourth surah (chapter) of the Holy Qur'an. This particular surah has been chosen due to its strikingly impressive metonymic examples and rich dialogues about women, orphans, inheritance, marriage laws, and even tayammum (using the earth for the performance of ablution when water resources are not obtainable), etc. This thesis also attempts to emphasize the distinctive character of metonymy as a fully independent figure of speech and explore how different strategies are utilized in the selected translations to overcome linguistic obstacles when translating metonymic expressions from Arabic into English. Four examples from the Holy Qur'an in general, and nine examples from Surat an-Nisa in particular, will be selected based on their exceptionally clear metonymic usages. Their general meanings will be introduced using some leading Books of Tafseer (Exegesis/Commentaries), including those of al-Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir, and Tantawy, among other Arabic and Islamic resources. Furthermore, two well-known English translations authored by notable translators from different ideological, educational, and cultural backgrounds will be compared and evaluated in terms of equivalence, translation strategies used, and contexts. These two translations are The Koran Interpreted by the British orientalist Arthur John Arberry (1955) and The Noble Qur'an by Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali and Muhammad Muhsin Khan (1997). The key focus will be on investigating how metonymic expressions are communicated to English readers and reflected linguistically in the translation. Results of the thesis outline how the Holy Qur'an employed the figurative power of metonymic language to convey specific messages and address certain topics by using expressions that give both common literal meanings and nonliteral allegorical meanings.College of Arts and SciencesDepartment of Arabic and Translation StudiesMaster of Arts in English/Arabic/English Translation and Interpreting (MATI
Investigating the Ability of Road Specifications to Discriminate the Rutting Behavior of Rubberized Asphalt Mixtures in Italy
Full text linkDespite its worldwide adoption in many countries, rubberized asphalt mixtures are not fully incorporated as an alternative paving material in current Italian road specifications. This reluctance stems from a lack of experience, resistance to change in established work practices, and, sometimes, insufficient evidence demonstrating tangible benefits with local specifications. Furthermore, conventional characterization methods such as void checks and indirect tensile strength testing by means of IDT may not accurately capture the true benefits of using alternative paving materials. This study introduces performance-driven characterization approaches with the final aim of evaluating whether more advanced procedures may provide additional information compared to current practices and, in turn, promote the use of alternative paving materials. Hence, an investigation has been conducted to compare the rutting behavior of conventional asphalt mixtures with those modified with engineered crumb rubber (ECR). This comparison utilized performance-driven characterization approaches, including a basic IDT-based methodology at higher temperatures (HT-IDT), as well as two more sophisticated approaches, the Stress Sweep Rutting (SSR) and Flow Number (FN) tests, using the asphalt mixture performance tester (AMPT). Finally, the results were compared with those obtained using the IDT, a conventional method as specified by the major Italian road authority. As a result, the addition of ECR proves beneficial in enhancing the qualities of dense mixtures tailored for use on urban and secondary roads; however, only performance-driven characterization, with both basic and advanced methodologies, can clearly describe the pivotal role of ECR in achieving discernible enhancements in the rutting behavior of asphalt mixtures
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
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