130,397 research outputs found
Trends in high sea levels of German North Sea gauges compared to regional mean sea level changes
No full textThe impacts of rising mean sea levels will be felt most acutely during periods of extreme high sea levels which are caused by the combination of mean sea level, tides and storm surges. In this paper, we examine sea level records from six tide gauges along the German North Sea coastline to determine if changes in high sea levels observed throughout the 20th century and early 21st century were primarily driven by increases in mean sea level (i.e. like what has been observed by other authors in most parts of the world) or whether other factors, such as changes in ocean tides or storm surges also contributed significantly to observed changes in high water in this region. Time-series of annual 80th, 85th, 90th, 95th, 99th, and 99.9th percentiles are derived from the sea level records and trends are assessed using linear regression for the entire time periods for which datasets are available at each site and for the common period from 1953 to 2008. The percentile time-series are subsequently reduced relative to mean sea level and a second set of trends are estimated. At all sites and percentile levels, significant positive trends are evident for the observed sea level data. Once the percentile time-series are reduced relative to mean sea level the remaining trends are still significant at the 1?-confidence level, with the exception of the 99.9th percentiles since the standard errors are large. Using a non-linear trend analysis, on the long Cuxhaven record, we find that prior to the mid-1950s and from about 1990 onwards, changes in high sea levels were not different from mean sea level changes. However, from the mid-1950s to 1990 changes were significantly different from those observed in mean sea level. Possible reasons for this appear to be due to changes in the amplitudes of several main tidal constituents, which are apparent since the mid-1950s and decadal variability in the storm activity (with strong westerly winds in the North Atlantic region from 1960 to the 1990s)
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
Influence of the Recirculation of Various by-products Generated through Electric Arc Furnace Route on EAF Slag Quality
No full textThe Fines2EAF project aims to increase the value of Electric Arc Furnace steelmaking residues by their internal recycling and reuse in form of cement-free briquettes. The project sustainability for a profitable fines' recirculation pass through the conservation of steel and slag quality in terms of chemistry, physics and eco friendliness. To do this, industrial trials have been conducted by the charging of self-reducing and slag-former briquettes made by primary and secondary fines materials. Several slag samples supplied from three different European EAF steel shops have been analysed. The specimens have been characterized by XRF, XRD and SEM to thoroughly define their crystallography, morphology and microstructure. The comparison with the corresponding reference samples (i.e., slag produced without the fines recirculation) also allowed to highlight the differences present. Leaching tests have been conducted on reference and briquette- added slag according to EN 12457-4 standard to assess the compliant with the local environmental regulation. The obtained results highlighted that the slag obtained using cement-free briquettes made by steelmaking fines exhibits crystallographic and morphological properties very similar to the reference samples, with limited differences attributed to slag and scrap feedstock intrinsic heterogeneity. No relevant increase in the leachate concentration could be detected when compared to reference samples and the influence of raw-material fines recirculation into the EAF could be considered at worst negligible, if not positive for some elements like Ba ( - 22.86%), V ( - 13.19%) and W ( - 14.83%). Considering all the analyses performed, no adverse effect on slag quality could be detected
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.
Investigation of (BOF) converter slag use for agriculture in Europe
No full textThe goal of zero-waste is one of the main challenges of modern steel industry, which over the past 20 years has been committed to increase the recovery and the use of by-products generated during the ironmaking and steelmaking processes. Among the main by-products generated during iron and steel production, such as slags, dusts and sludges, slags constitute about 90% of the total. Slags are currently used in various fields (such as cement production, road construction, environmental recovery in landfill covers, as fertilizer and soil conditioner, etc.) according to their chemical features, which depend on production process origin. In Italy, in particular for example, BF (Blast Furnace) slag is used for cement production while BOF (Basic Oxygen Furnace) slag without iron (inert slag) is used as landfill cover, in compliance with Italian legislation. In Germany, BF and BOF slag use as fertlisers and liming materials has a long tradition. Although in recent years slag use has increased, the application for agriculture purposes needs to be further investigated. Slag can be used as a soil conditioner (high content of Ca and Mg), Si supply (improves the crops resistance to pests and diseases), P fertilizer production and micro-nutrients supply. Use of slags can affect human health and environment, because of heavy metal content, which can leache to groundwater or be transferred to surface water. The assessment of risk to the environment based on slag application requires further investigation. This represents an opportunity for both the steel and fertilizer industries to promote natural resources savings, CO2 emission reductions, landfill waste prevention as well as social awareness of sustainability of some industrial activities. The BOF slag has been shown to be useful as liming material for acidic soil amendment and it can replace commercial fertilizers. Different effects on crop yields and on soil parameters can be found, depending on soil characteristics and climate conditions. In Middle Europe, with humid climate, lime losses through leaching of up to 0.5 t CaO/ha have to be replaced with liming material to prevent acidification. Evaluation of long-term field trials with slag liming materials can give information about the impact of slag applications on crop management and the environment. In Mediterranean regions, such as in Italy, arable soils rarely show acidic characteristics. Alkaline soils from coastal areas are often rich in sodium content, due to seawater intrusion and irrigation with saline water. The aim of this research is also to investigate the application of BOF slag to these soils, in order to assess the effect of Ca contained in slag in balancing negative Na effects. This paper is based on the preliminary study and experiments carried out within an ongoing RFCS (Research Fund for Coal and Steel) project
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
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
The R&D Tax Incentives
No full textThis article sets out some background information and reflections of the author on the R&D tax incentive schemes included in the Common Corporate Tax Base (CCTB) Proposal. In particular the author analyzes the stimulus to private R&D through ad hoc tax incentives included in the CCTB Proposal and dives into the actual provisions included in the Proposal highlighting the most relevant issues connected with their design and interpretation. Moreover, the author explores the interaction between the CCTB Proposal and the granting by Member States of domestic R&D tax incentives
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