1,721,036 research outputs found
Synthetic data generation to speed-up the object recognition pipeline
No full textThis paper provides a methodology for the production of synthetic images for training neural networks to recognise shapes and objects. There are many scenarios in which it is difficult, expensive and even dangerous to produce a set of images that is satisfactory for the training of a neural network. The development of 3D modelling software has nowadays reached such a level of realism and ease of use that it seemed natural to explore this innovative path and to give an answer regarding the reliability of this method that bases the training of the neural network on synthetic images. The results obtained in the two proposed use cases, that of the recognition of a pictorial style and that of the recognition of men at sea, lead us to support the validity of the approach, provided that the work is conducted in a very scrupulous and rigorous manner, exploiting the full potential of the modelling software. The code produced, which automatically generates the transformations necessary for the data augmentation of each image, and the generation of random environmental conditions in the case of Blender and Unity3D software, is available under the GPL licence on GitHub. The results obtained lead us to affirm that through the good practices presented in the article, we have defined a simple, reliable, economic and safe method to feed the training phase of a neural network dedicated to the recognition of objects and features to be applied to various contexts
Strategies and System Implementations for Secure Electronic Written Exams
No full textThe pandemic has accelerated the process of digitization in many fields, highlighting some critical issues that have slowed the development of digital technologies in many areas. One of these is undoubtedly that of skills assessment, which on a digital platform is a more streamlined, reliable and faster process and allows some individuals from disadvantaged groups to be able to carry out the exam more easily. We present some strategies for enabling online remote secure written exams and their implementation through the open-source system LibreEOL. The system can be used for university exams (in presence or from remote locations) and training courses of all types to evaluate the effectiveness of learning in itinere, i.e., before, during and after a course, to provide quantitative data on training effectiveness. We outline the architecture of the services underpinning the system and the logical organisation of the various user roles and content relating to questions and exam delivery. We describe the algorithms that have allowed us to develop an environment that appears to be an essential aid both for teachers and students in light of the questionnaires conducted on students. The system is successfully used in the EchemTest, promoted by the European Chemistry Thematic Network, and allows comparison of chemistry training outcomes in different European countries. Despite the importance, it has taken on in the last two years due to the pandemic, such a system makes it possible to carry out a valuable skills assessment
Empowering Knowledge With Virtual and Augmented Reality
No full textRecent global advancements in ICT technologies have motivated our research to assess the impact of Virtual and Augmented Reality on teaching and learning. In particular, we conducted a rigorous study on the effects on learning by subjecting classes of students to an experience of these emerging technologies and measuring their feelings before and after the experiment through questionnaires. We carried out the research involving three high schools and a total of 162 students aged between 15 and 20. During the meetings, we made available two applications that we developed. The first is a Virtual Reality environment that enables the user to explore a room in which the system spawns three-dimensional objects defined by the teacher. The objects may represent mathematical functions, physics simulations, scenes relating to historical re-enactments, etc. The second is an Augmented Reality smartphone application that allows three-dimensional figures to be observed via the smartphone screen by framing a marker printed on paper. Both applications are realised with free software, trying to minimise the technical requirements for their operation and guaranteeing reliability and usability. The work concludes by analysing the results obtained and comparing the effectiveness of the two technologies tested. Results of tests conducted in three Italian schools show that Augmented Reality is seen as a useful tool in education by about 94.43%. Importantly, the use of these technologies requires an inclusive design that involves all students, regardless of their level of familiarity with the technology. The overall analysis reveals that both technologies performed well, and students value them for their intuitiveness and level of immersion. The in presence experience is more effective for using immersive applications fostered by student collaboration
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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