171,782 research outputs found
Dynamic Reconfiguration of Composite Convergent Services Supported by Multimodal Search
No full textComposite convergent services integrate a set of functionalities from Web and Telecommunication domains. Due to the big amount of available functionalities, automation of composition process is required in many fields. However, automated composition is not feasible in practice if reconfiguration mechanisms are not considered. This paper presents a novel approach for dynamic reconfiguration of convergent services that replaces malfunctioning regions of composite convergent services considering user preferences. In order to replace the regions of services, a multimodal search is performed. Our contributions are: a model for representing composite convergent services and a region-based algorithm for reconfiguring services supported by multimodal search
Ordonez and Molina reply
No full textA Reply to the Comment by James W. Dufty, Roland Stamm, and Bernard Talin. © 1995 The American Physical Society
Dynamic intracochlear pressure measurement during cochlear implant electrode insertion
No full textOrdonez F, Riemann C, Mueller S, Sudhoff H, Todt I. Dynamic intracochlear pressure measurement during cochlear implant electrode insertion. Acta Oto-Laryngologica. 2019;139(10):860-865
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
HAUTO: Automated composition of convergent services based in HTN planning
No full textThis paper presents HAUTO, a framework able to compose convergent services automatically. HAUTO is based in HTN (hierarchical task networks) Automated Planning and is composed of three modules: a request processing module that transforms natural language and context information into a planning instance, the automated composition module based on HTN planning and the execution environment for convergent (Web and telecom) services. The integration of a planning component provides two basic functionalities: the possibility of customizing the composition of services using the user context information and a middleware level that integrates the execution of services in high performance telecom environments. Finally, a prototype in environmental early warning management is presented as a test case
Mitomycin C in highly myopic eyes - Author reply
No full textOphthalmology. 2005 Feb;112(2):208-18; discussion 219.
Mitomycin C modulation of corneal wound healing after photorefractive keratectomy in highly myopic eyes.
Gambato C, Ghirlando A, Moretto E, Busato F, Midena E.
SourceRefractive Surgery Service and Antimetabolite Therapy Research Unit, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of topical mitomycin C in corneal wound healing (CWH) after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) in highly myopic eyes.
DESIGN: Prospective, double-masked, randomized clinical trial.
PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-two eyes of 36 patients affected by high (>7 diopters) myopia.
METHODS: In each patient, one eye was randomly assigned to PRK with intraoperative topical 0.02% mitomycin C application, and the fellow eye was treated with a placebo. Postoperatively, mitomycin C-treated eyes received artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months), whereas the fellow eye was treated with fluorometholone sodium 2% and artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), contrast sensitivity, manifest refraction, and biomicroscopy. Contrast sensitivity was determined using the Pelli-Robson chart. Corneal confocal microscopy documented CWH.
RESULTS: Mean follow-up was 18 months (range, 12-36). No side effects or toxic effects were documented. At 12-month follow-up examination, UCVAs (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution) were 0.4+/-0.48 and 0.5+/-0.53 (P = .03) in mitomycin C-treated eyes and corticosteroid-treated eyes, respectively. At 1 year, corneal haze developed in 20% of corticosteroid-treated eyes, versus 0% of mitomycin C-treated eyes. At 12, 24, and 36 months, corneal confocal microscopy showed activated keratocytes and extracellular matrix significantly more evident in untreated eyes (Ps = 0.004, 0.024, and 0.046, respectively).
CONCLUSION: Topical intraoperative application of 0.02% mitomycin C can reduce haze formation in highly myopic eyes undergoing PRK.
Comment in
Ophthalmology. 2006 Feb;113(2):357; author reply 357-8
Polyaniline : advances in synthesis and environmental applications
No full textThe chemical industry of the forthcoming years will be shaped by a number of emerging global megatrends strictly related to the growth and aging of the world population (nine billion people in 2050). This will result in demand of innovative materials able to solve new needs in different fields. Environmental deterioration and the scarcity of fresh water have become imperative global issues to be solved nowadays. Polyaniline (PANI) and PANI nanocomposites are innovative materials that have gained popularity in addressing water and air pollution issues.
These materials, combining electrostatic and hydrophobic segments in their backbone, showed promising results in the abatement of both remove organic (mainly hazardous dyes) and inorganic (mainly toxic metals) pollutants.
Even though many methods have developed to synthesized PANI of good quality in terms of conductivity, stability and porosity, all these approaches are based on the use of toxic stoichiometric oxidants (typically metals in high oxidation state) and lead to the production of carcinogenic coproducts (i. e. benzidine and trans-azobenzene) [1]. In line with the growing environmental sensitivity and the necessity of clean products, we have recently addressed our efforts on the development of environmentally friendly protocols to produce “green” PANI [2-4]. Herein, we report a brief overview of our results on the synthesis of PANI and its composites by environmentally friendly approaches and our recent goals in the abatement of VOCs [5] and NO2 from air matrices and dyes [4], hydrocarbons [6] and metals from water [4].
[1] J. C. Chang, A. G. MacDiarmid. Polyaniline: Protonic acid doping of the emeraldine form to the metallic regime. Synth. Met., 1986, 13, 193–205.
[2] Z. Chen, C. Della Pina, E. Falletta, M. Rossi. A green route to conducting polyaniline by copper catalysis. J. Catal., 2009, 267, 93-96.
[3] C. Della Pina, M. Rossi, A. M. Ferretti, A. Ponti, M. Lo Faro, E. Falletta. One-pot synthesis of polyaniline/Fe3O4 nanocomposites with magnetic and conductive behaviour. Catalytic effect of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Synth. Met., 2012, 162, 2250-2258.
[4] C. Cionti, C. Della Pina, D. Meroni, E. Falletta, S. Ardizzone. Triply green polyaniline: UV irradiation-induced synthesis of a highly porous PANI/TiO2 composite and its application in dye removal. Chem. Commun., 2018, 54, 10702-10705.
[5] C. Della Pina, M. A. De Gregorio, P. Dellavedova, E. Falletta. Polyanilines as New Sorbents for Hydrocarbons Removal from Aqueous Solutions. Materials, 2020, 13, 2161(1-10).
[6] C. Della Pina, M. A. De Gregorio, L. Clerici, P. Dellavedova, E. Falletta. Polyaniline (PANI): an innovative support for sampling and removal of VOCs in air matrices. J. Haz. Mat., 2018, 344, 1-8
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
Charged particle reflection by a planar artificially structured boundary with electrostatic plugging
No full textA classical trajectory Monte Carlo simulation is used to investigate an artificially structured boundary for confinement and control of charged particles. The artificially structured boundary considered here incorporates a planar sequence of conducting wires, where adjacent wires carry current in opposite directions. Such a configuration creates a sequence of magnetic cusps and was studied previously [C. A. Ordonez, J. Appl. Phys. 106, 024905 (2009)]. The effect of introducing a sequence of electrodes for electrostatic plugging of the cusps is investigated. The results of the simulations are used to identify regions of parameter space in which particle losses through the cusps may be negligible in the single particle limit. A trap based on a cylindrical generalization of the artificially structured boundary presented here may lead to a method for confining non-neutral and partially neutralized plasmas along the edge, such that the bulk of a confined plasma is effectively free of externally applied electromagnetic fields
Linking local ecological knowledge to plant functional traits in coffee and cocoa
No full textLocal knowledge and ranking of trees per function
During August and October 2013, semi-structured interviews and a ranking exercise were carried out with 50 coffee AFS farmers in Turrialba and 50 cocoa AFS farmers in Talamanca, Costa Rica.
We selected (i) three ecological functions of the shade component based on prior work on coffee AFS in Turrialba (Cerdan 2012), that were: (1) Maintenance of soil fertility, (2) Maintenance of fresh microclimate in the plantation and (3) Control of soil erosion, and (ii) one “utilitarian” function, defined by the farmers, that was the “suitability” of the shade component for the plantation (best shade).
A semi structured interview was carried out to collect information on criteria that farmers used to assess shade species in terms of their performance for the 4 selected functions. After the interview, each farmer was presented photos of 18 (Coffee AFS) to 20 (Cocoa AFS) commonest shade species found in each study site with clear print of the local name and they were asked to divide the cards between those species they knew well and those species they did not know. From the species they knew well, 10 species were selected at random for the ranking exercise. In the few cases that less than 10 species were available, the ranking exercise included only with the species farmers knew. Then farmers were asked to rank the selected species for each selected function. Comments of the farmers explaining the ranking were noted.
Plant functional traits and measurement:
Three functional traits related to production, accumulation of standing biomass and litter decomposition were selected: plant height (PH, m), Specific leaf area (SLA, m2kg-1) and physical strength of leaves, measured as the force to tear (PSL-FT, N mm-1).
Measurement for all traits was carried out according to (Pérez-Harguindeguy et al. 2013). Ten individuals of each species in each agroforestry system were sampled. We visited farms where the selected species were more abundant to allow selecting suitable individuals for sampling. For each individual, PH of plants less than 5 m was estimated with a stick of known longitude. For plants taller than 5 m, we used a clinometer. After measuring height, two leaf samples per individual were taken for measurement of PSL-FT. To avoid dehydration, PSL-FT was measured directly in the field immediately after collection of the leaf samples with a tearing apparatus (Pérez-Harguindeguy et al. 2013). For SLA measurements, 5 mature leaves with minimal damage from pest, diseases or parasites were selected from each individual, including those selected for the tearing test. The projected area of the leaves included petioles and was estimated from photographs, taken in the field, using Image J software and protocols (http://imagej.nih.gov/ij/). After taking the photographs, leaves were stored in paper bags and left in a ventilated place, upon more than two weeks in Talamanca, until being transported to the lab where they were air dried at 70°C for 72 hours and weighed. The total area of the five leaves was divided by their total weight to obtain SLA
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