1,721,126 research outputs found
Legodroid: A Type-Driven Library for Android and LEGO Mindstorms Interoperability
Full text linkLEGO Mindstorms robots are widely used as educational tools to acquire skills in programming complex systems involving the interaction of sensors and actuators, and they offer a flexible and modular workbench to design and evaluate user-machine interaction prototypes in the robotic area. However, there is still a lack of support to interoperability features and the need of high-level tools to program the interaction of a robot with other devices. In this paper, we introduce Legodroid, a new Java library enabling cross-programming LEGO Mindstorms robots through Android smartphones that exploits their combined computational and sensorial capabilities in a seamless way. The library provides a number of type-driven coding patterns for interacting with sensors and motors. In this way, the robustness of the software managing robot's sensors dramatically improves
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
High accuracy images and range based acquiring for artistic handworks 3D-models
Full text linkThe research topics and the applications in the Geomatic area are often connected to the land knowledge and management or to human artefacts usually studied and analyzed from expert of other areas. When these subjects are a part of the Cultural Heritage the survey methodology for the documentation and the knowledge need to consider the final users (belong to different disciplines), in order to realize correct descriptive products suitable for all the actors involved in the preservation and the safeguard of the Cultural Heritage. During the last decade one of the important aim related to the cooperation between the Geomatics group of Politecnico di Torino and the experts working on archaeological sites is to join the new Geomatic methodology and techniques in order to realize documents and products, usable by the specialists, aimed to the archaeological site knowledge and documentation. The past applications were focused on the ancient city, from the urban scale through the archaeological evidences up till the architectural elements. The paper deal with the last experiences of the research group relating to two important archaeological objects. In particular the archaeological artefacts are figurative relief featured by small dimension, carved in the marble and belonging to two architectural elements; the subjects are two theatrical masks, one comical featured and the other tragical. In order to aid and support other analyses involving restoration strategies one of the goals of the last expedition was the documentation, the survey and modelling of the artefacts. According to the complex shape of the theatrical masks, and in order to obtain all the information requested for a correct survey documentation, a triangulation-based LiDAR system was employed (HandyScan 3D- model HZ). Moreover, since the LiDAR survey was performed on the more complex decorated surface (theatrical masks) in order to achieve a complete 3D model of the marble blocks a photogrammetric survey was realized. In the paper some topics are going to be described, highlighting advantages coming from multi-sensor data fusion techniques, both for obtaining multi-scale models and for general accuracy improvement. Some discussed topics are: The acquisition phases and the obtained results of the 3D HandyScan survey, the photogrammetric processing steps and the realized products, the assembling and integration of the different kinds of data, the 3D representation and the photorealistic modeling phases
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
Geographic location based secure, dynamic and opportunistic RPL for distributed networks
No full textRouting Protocol (RPL) for Low power and Lossy Networks is one of the most trusted routing mechanism for IPV6. Unfortunately, in recent times RPL is facing several issues, while coping with the rapid advancements in networking and the paradigm shift towards IoT. There exist several security vulnerabilities in RPL, as well as other performance related concerns due to the need of scalability, resource constraints and mobility requirements. In this paper we discuss some of these issues in detail and introduce a Geographic Location-based Secure, Dynamic and Opportunistic routing protocol for point-to-point communication. The proposal has been extensively simulated within the Contiki Cooja environment and applied within an innovative IIoT Additive Manufacturing system
La valutazione degli investimenti nei processi decisionali delle aziende pubbliche
No full textIl presente articolo si propone di indagare il ruolo della valutazione degli investimenti nei processi decisionali delle aziende pubbliche. Nell'analisi si sostiene che la valutazione degli investimenti pubblici può svolgere un ruolo di grande importanza sia a sostegno del controllo strategico sia in sede di controllo di gestione. Si pensi, ad esempio, alle valutazioni ex-ante, oltre a quelle in itinere ed ex-post. Per ottenere questo risultato occorre che la valutazione degli investimenti pubblici non sia confinata ad una dimensione puramente tecnica (in particolare, per quanto concerne le metodologie di valutazione) ma diventi parte di un più ampio sistema di controllo manageriale e sia collegata ed interagisca con la fase della fissazione degli obiettivi e con la verifica dei risultati raggiunti.This article aims to investigate the role played by investment evaluation in decision-making processes in public sector organizations. This article argues that investment evaluation can play an important role in both strategic and management control. For instance, evaluation can play a role both before and after the investment decision is made, as well as in monitoring investment implementation. In order to achieve this effect, investment evaluation needs not be confi ned as a mere technical task (in particular, as a matter of applying correct evaluation methods), but it ought to be a component part of the broader managerial control system, and it should be linked to objectives-setting and assessment of results achieved
PMA withdrawal in PMA-treated monocytic THP-1 cells and subsequent retinoic acid stimulation modulate the induction of apoptosis and the appearance of dendritic cells.
No full textOBJECTIVES:
To analyse proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis in THP-1 cells after stimulation with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and retinoic acid (RA).
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
PMA and RA were used in a three-step-procedure: (i) treatment with 6, 30, 60 nm PMA, that induced initial, intermediate and advanced levels of monocyte-macrophage transition, respectively; (ii) recovery in PMA-free medium; (iii) incubation with 4 μm RA. Cultures were characterized cytokinetically (flow cytometry/bromodeoxyuridine uptake) and immunocytochemically (static cytometry) for expression of CD14, CD11b (monocyte-macrophage) and DC-SIGN (dendritic cell: DCs) markers.
RESULTS:
Some treatments determined appearance of monocyte/macrophage, dendritic and apoptotic phenotypes, percentages of which were related to PMA dose used in step 1, and dependent on presence/absence of PMA and RA. PMA withdrawal induced dedifferentiation and partial restoration of proliferative activity, specially in 6 and 30 nm PMA-derived cells. Recovery in the presence of serum (fundamental to DC appearance) indicated that depending on differentiation level, cell proliferation and apoptosis were inversely correlated. Treatment with 30 nm PMA induced intermediate levels of monocytic-macrophagic differentiation, with expression of alternative means of differentiation and acquisition of DCs without using cytokines, after PMA withdrawal and RA stimulation.
CONCLUSIONS:
Our experimental conditions favoured differentiation, dedifferentiation and transdifferentiational pathways, in monocytic THP-1 cells, the balance of which could be related to both cell proliferation and cell death
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