196,052 research outputs found
Studi micromorfologici nel sito neolitico di S. Andrea a Travo (PC): ricostruzione della stratigrafia
No full textLe analisi micromorfologiche effettuate su campioni indisturbati provenienti da tre sezioni stratigrafiche localizzate nell’area adiacente al villaggio neolitico hanno permesso di ricostruire la stratigrafia del sito e di individuarne alcune caratteristiche geopedologiche. La base della stratigrafia è costituita dalle ghiaie tardo pleistoceniche - oloceniche di un terrazzo del fiume Trebbia. Il livello di occupazione neolitica, invece, si è impostato al di sopra di un paleosuolo bruno-rossastro di cui si sono conservate solo delle tracce discontinue a tetto del terrazzo fluviale. Successivi episodi di colluvio costituiscono la parte sommitale della sequenza stratigrafica; tali apporti di materiale dal versante risultano posteriori al periodo di piena attività del villaggio neolitico (4300 – 3800 BC cal), ma ancora contemporanei alla presenza dell’uomo nell’area. L’innesco di questi fenomeni di degradazione del versante potrebbe essere stato causato, dunque, da interventi antropici (disboscamento) in concomitanza coi documentati cambiamenti climatici del periodo atlantico - subboreale.Micromorphological analyses on undisturbed samples from three stratigraphic sections located near the Neolithic village allowed the stratigraphic reconstruction of the site and identification of geopedological features. The base of the stratigraphic sequence is composed by gravel and sand constituting a terrace of the Trebbia River, Late Pleistocene - Holocene in age. The Neolithic soil overlies a red-paleosol that is recognizable by the presence of few and discontinuous traces at the top of the fluvial terrace. The upper part of the stratigraphic sequence consists of superimposed colluvial layers; such slope deposits are more recent than the settling period of the village (i.e. 4300-3800 B.C.), however, still corresponding to the human presence in the area. Therefore, anthropic influence (clearance) together with well-documented climatic deterioration events (Atlantic - Subboreal in age) could be responsible for provoking colluvial episodes that buried the Neolithic layer
Le strutture a ciottoli combusti di S. Andrea a Travo: approccio geoarcheologico
No full textLe analisi multidisciplinari effettuate su alcune delle strutture a ciottoli combusti rinvenute nel sito di S. Andrea a Travo hanno permesso di indagarne la funzionalità. Lo studio micromorfologico ne ha confermato l’attribuzione alla tipologia delle strutture di combustione a ciottoli riscaldati, ma sono soprattutto le analisi geochimiche che hanno aggiunto informazioni importanti per interpretarne l'utilizzo. Esse infatti hanno individuato la presenza di colesterolo, indicatore di grasso animale che si può ritenere derivato dalla cottura di carne durante l’uso del forno. Infine il rapporto 5β stanoli/stanoli suggerisce" un possibile impiego di sterco di erbivori come innesco per l’accensione del forno o come combustibile in aggiunta alla legna.Multidisciplinary analyses on different fire structures with burned pebbles, from Travo S. Andrea archaeological site, allowed the examination of their use. The micromorphological study substantiated their attribution to the fire structures with burned pebbles typology, while geochemical analyses produced significant data on their use. In fact, such analyses identified the presence of cholesterol in soil samples underlying the fire structures: cholesterol is a marker for animal fats in soil, so it must be deposited during meat cooking in the structure. Moreover, 5β-stanols/stanols ratio shows a possible herbivores dung input, the latter as fire trigger or as fuel, in addition to wood
Raman Spectroscopy and Imaging Techniques Applied to Neolithic Artefacts as a Valuable Contribution to the Archaeological Research on Piacentine Sites
No full textArchaeologists and conservation scientists join interdisciplinary projects aim-
ing at the in-depth analysis of artefacts and the resolution of new archaeological issues,
overcoming the common limits of mesoscopic observation. The aim of this research is to
perform multidisciplinary research, adapting imaging techniques (RTI imaging and 3D
photogrammetry) and Raman spectroscopy from their conventional field of application to
study and valorise neolithic archaeological findings from Piacentine sites (Emilia-Romagna,
Italy). RTI images enable the detection of a comprehensive framework of anthropic and
natural traces on the object surfaces to support the hypothesis of the intended usage of
artefacts. Combining qualitative and quantitative Raman spectra analysis, the specific
lithological characterisation of each fragment is conducted, thereby the understanding of
their probable geographic provenance is enhanced. This contributes to the identification
of the External Ligurian Units as a possible primary supply area, along with the already
known outcrops in the Mont Viso Massif and Voltri Group. Their potential as a powerful
instrument for conservation and valorisation has been revealed by 3D models. In fact, they
may enrich museum exhibits, enhancing visitors’ experience through interactive engage-
ment and guarantee the examination of artefacts by experts across the globe through online
sharing, without the need for transportation and excessive manipulation
Dr. Duane M. Jackson, Morehouse College, July 2011
No full textThis video is a conversation with Dr. Duane M. Jackson. Dr. Jackson talks about his paper, "Recall and the Serial Position Effect: The Role of Primacy and Recency on Accounting Students' Performance." Jackie Daniel, AUC Woodruff Library, is the interviewer
"Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States" By M. Carey.
No full text"Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States: containing bried sketches of the moral and political character of those states.
By M. Carey, member of the American philosophical, and of the American Antiquarian Society, and author of The Olive Branch, Cindiciae Hibernicae, essays on banking, on political economy, and on internal improvement.
To which are now added the English editor's comments on the subject; together with Important Advice to Emigrants, and Cautions Against Impositions Practiced in the Outports
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
Dr. Glendon Swarthout
No full textHosted by Roger M. Busfield, MSU Assistant Professor of Speech and Theater, Meet the Author is designed to introduce a general audience to a contemporary author and their work through in-depth interviews. This episode features a conversation between Dr. Glendon Swarthout, prolific author and English professor at MSU, and assistant professors Sam S. Baskett and Theodore B. Strandness
Simulation of thermal plant optimization and hydraulic aspects of thermal distribution loops for large campuses
No full textFollowing an introduction, the author describes Texas A&M University and its utilities system. After that, the author presents how to construct simulation models for chilled water and heating hot water distribution systems. The simulation model was used in a $2.3 million Ross Street chilled water pipe replacement project at Texas A&M University. A second project conducted at the University of Texas at San Antonio was used as an example to demonstrate how to identify and design an optimal distribution system by using a simulation model. The author found that the minor losses of these closed loop thermal distribution systems are significantly higher than potable water distribution systems. In the second part of the report, the author presents the latest development of software called the Plant Optimization Program, which can simulate cogeneration plant operation, estimate its operation cost and provide optimized operation suggestions. The author also developed detailed simulation models for a gas turbine and heat recovery steam generator and identified significant potential savings. Finally, the author also used a steam turbine as an example to present a multi-regression method on constructing simulation models by using basic statistics and optimization algorithms. This report presents a survey of the author??s working experience at the Energy Systems Laboratory (ESL) at Texas A&M University during the period of January 2002 through March 2004. The purpose of the above work was to allow the author to become familiar with the practice of engineering. The result is that the author knows how to complete a project from start to finish and understands how both technical and nontechnical aspects of a project need to be considered in order to ensure a quality deliverable and bring a project to successful completion. This report concludes that the objectives of the internship were successfully accomplished and that the requirements for the degree of Degree of Engineering have been satisfied
A reproducible framework for synthetic data generation and instance segmentation in robotic suturing
No full textPurpose: Automating suturing in robotic-assisted surgery offers significant benefits including enhanced precision, reduced operative time, and alleviated surgeon fatigue. Achieving this requires robust computer vision (CV) models. Still, their development is hindered by the scarcity of task-specific datasets and the complexity of acquiring and annotating real surgical data. This work addresses these challenges using a sim-to-real approach to create synthetic datasets and a data-driven methodology for model training and evaluation. Methods: Existing 3D models of Da Vinci tools were modified and new models–needle and tissue cuts–were created to account for diverse data scenarios, enabling the generation of three synthetic datasets with increasing realism using Unity and the Perception package. These datasets were then employed to train several YOLOv8-m models for object detection to evaluate the generalizability of synthetic-trained models in real scenarios and the impact of dataset realism on model performance. Additionally, a real-time instance segmentation model was developed through a hybrid training strategy combining synthetic and a minimal set of real images. Results: Synthetic-trained models showed improved performance on real test sets as training dataset realism increased, but realism levels remained insufficient for complete generalization. Instead, the hybrid approach significantly increased performance in real scenarios. Indeed, the hybrid instance segmentation model exhibited real-time capabilities and robust accuracy, achieving the best Dice coefficient (0.92) with minimal dependence on real training data (30–50 images). Conclusions: This study demonstrates the potential of sim-to-real synthetic datasets to advance robotic suturing automation through a simple and reproducible framework. By sharing 3D models, Unity environments and annotated datasets, this work provides resources for creating additional images, expanding datasets, and enabling fine-tuning or semi-supervised learning. By facilitating further exploration, this work lays a foundation for advancing suturing automation and addressing task-specific dataset scarcity.</p
Intern experience at CH���M Hill, Inc.: an internship report
No full textIncludes author's vita"Submitted to the College of Engineering of Texas A&M University in partial
fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Engineering."Includes bibliographical referencesA review of the author's internship experience with CH���M HILL, Inc.
during the period September 1975 through May 1976 is presented. During this nine month
internship the author worked as an Engineer II in the Industrial Processes discipline of this
large consulting engineering firm... The author's prime responsibility was as one of three
lead design engineers on the design of a large wastewater treatment facility for a pulp mill
in Hoquiam, Washington owned by ITT Rayonier Inc. The work generally consisted of the design
of individual treatment units and associated piping and pumping. The purpose of the project
was to provide wastewater treatment capabilities that would satisfy the effluent limitations
(standards) imposed upon the mill by the State of Washington Department of Ecology and the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The author's assignment also entailed necessary
interaction with the project manager and other CH���M HILL design engineers and support staff
members, the client's representatives, and representatives of two other consulting engineering
firms working on the project. Thus, the internship position at CH���M HILL provided considerable
experience coordinating the author's work with the work of other engineers, guiding the design
and administrative efforts of a support staff, and interacting regularly with the client and
other consulting firms. This broad exposure to a variety of engineering and organizational
problems provided a valuable educational experience
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