1,720,992 research outputs found

    Assessing the Vulnerability of the Fiber Infrastructure to Disasters

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    Communication networks are vulnerable to natural disasters, such as earthquakes or floods, as well as to physical attacks, such as an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack. Such real-world events happen in specific geographical locations and disrupt specific parts of the network. Therefore, the geographical layout of the network determines the impact of such events on the network's connectivity. In this paper, we focus on assessing the vulnerability of (geographical) networks to such disasters. In particular, we aim to identify the most vulnerable parts of the network. That is, the locations of disasters that would have the maximum disruptive effect on the network in terms of capacity and connectivity. We consider graph models in which nodes and links are geographically located on a plane. First, we consider a simplistic bipartite graph model and present a polynomial-time algorithm for finding a worst-case vertical line segment cut. We then generalize the network model to graphs with nodes at arbitrary locations. We model the disaster event as a line segment or a disk and develop polynomial-time algorithms that find a worst-case line segment cut and a worst-case circular cut. Finally, we obtain numerical results for a specific backbone network, thereby demonstrating the applicability of our algorithms to real-world networks. Our novel approach provides a promising new direction for network design to avert geographical disasters or attacks.United States. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (Grant HDTRA1-07-1-0004)United States. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (Grant HDTRA09-1-005)United States. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (Grant HDTRA1-09-1-0057)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CNS-1017800)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CNS0830961)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CNS-1018379)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CNS-1054856)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CNS-0626781)American Society for Engineering Education. National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate FellowshipNational Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant EEC-0812072

    Assessing the effect of geographically correlated failures on interconnected power-communication networks

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    We study the reliability of power transmission networks under regional disasters. Initially, we quantify the effect of large-scale non-targeted disasters and their resulting cascade effects on power networks. We then model the dependence of data networks on the power systems and consider network reliability in this dependent network setting. Our novel approach provides a promising new direction for modeling and designing networks to lessen the effects of geographical disasters.National Science Foundation (U.S.). (grant CNS-1017800)National Science Foundation (U.S.). (grant CNS-0830961)United States. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (HDTRA-09-1-005 )United States. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (HDTRA-1-13-10021

    Network Reliability under Random Circular Cuts

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    Optical fiber networks consist of fibers that are laid out along physical terrestrial paths. As such, they are vulnerable to geographical physical failures, such as earthquakes and Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) attacks. Moreover, such disasters can lead to multiple, geographically correlated, failures on the fiber network. Thus, the geographical layout of the fiber infrastructure has a critical impact on the robustness of the network in the face of such geographical physical failures. In this paper, we develop tools to analyze network connectivity after a `random' geographic disaster. The random location of the disaster allows us to model situations where the physical failures are not targeted attacks. In particular, we consider disasters that take the form of a `randomly' located disk in a plane. Using results from geometric probability, we are able to approximate some network performance metrics to such a disaster in polynomial time. We present some numerical results that make clear geographically correlated failures are fundamentally different from independent failures and then discuss network design in the context of random disk-cuts.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CNS-0830961)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CNS-1017800)United States. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (Grant HDTRA1-07-1-0004)United States. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (Grant HDTRA-09-1-005

    Network Reliability With Geographically Correlated Failures

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    Fiber-optic networks are vulnerable to natural disasters, such as tornadoes or earthquakes, as well as to physical failures, such as an anchor cutting underwater fiber cables. Such real-world events occur in specific geographical locations and disrupt specific parts of the network. Therefore, the geography of the network determines the effect of physical events on the network's connectivity and capacity. In this paper, we develop tools to analyze network failures after a `random' geographic disaster. The random location of the disaster allows us to model situations where the physical failures are not targeted attacks. In particular, we consider disasters that take the form of a `random' line in a plane. Using results from geometric probability, we are able to calculate some network performance metrics to such a disaster in polynomial time. In particular, we can evaluate average two-terminal reliability in polynomial time under `random' line-cuts. This is in contrast to the case of independent link failures for which there exists no known polynomial time algorithm to calculate this reliability metric. We also present some numerical results to show the significance of geometry on the survivability of the network and discuss network design in the context of random line-cuts. Our novel approach provides a promising new direction for modeling and designing networks to lessen the effects of geographical disasters or attacks.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (grants CNS-0626781)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (CNS-0830961)United States. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (HDTRA1-07-1-0004)United States. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (HDTRA1-09-1-005)National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowshi

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The 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

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    “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

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    We 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

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    We 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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