CHORUS Deliverable 2.2: Second report - identification of multi-disciplinary key issues for gap analysis toward EU multimedia search engines roadmap

After addressing the state-of-the-art during the first year of Chorus and establishing the existing landscape in multimedia search engines, we have identified and analyzed gaps within European research effort during our second year. In this period we focused on three directions, notably technological issues, user-centred issues and use-cases and socio- economic and legal aspects. These were assessed by two central studies: firstly, a concerted vision of functional breakdown of generic multimedia search engine, and secondly, a representative use-cases descriptions with the related discussion on requirement for technological challenges. Both studies have been carried out in cooperation and consultation with the community at large through EC concertation meetings (multimedia search engines cluster), several meetings with our Think-Tank, presentations in international conferences, and surveys addressed to EU projects coordinators as well as National initiatives coordinators. Based on the obtained feedback we identified two types of gaps, namely core technological gaps that involve research challenges, and “enablers”, which are not necessarily technical research challenges, but have impact on innovation progress. New socio-economic trends are presented as well as emerging legal challenges

Chemical information matters: an e-Research perspective on information and data sharing in the chemical sciences

Recently, a number of organisations have called for open access to scientific information and especially to the data obtained from publicly funded research, among which the Royal Society report and the European Commission press release are particularly notable. It has long been accepted that building research on the foundations laid by other scientists is both effective and efficient. Regrettably, some disciplines, chemistry being one, have been slow to recognise the value of sharing and have thus been reluctant to curate their data and information in preparation for exchanging it. The very significant increases in both the volume and the complexity of the datasets produced has encouraged the expansion of e-Research, and stimulated the development of methodologies for managing, organising, and analysing "big data". We review the evolution of cheminformatics, the amalgam of chemistry, computer science, and information technology, and assess the wider e-Science and e-Research perspective. Chemical information does matter, as do matters of communicating data and collaborating with data. For chemistry, unique identifiers, structure representations, and property descriptors are essential to the activities of sharing and exchange. Open science entails the sharing of more than mere facts: for example, the publication of negative outcomes can facilitate better understanding of which synthetic routes to choose, an aspiration of the Dial-a-Molecule Grand Challenge. The protagonists of open notebook science go even further and exchange their thoughts and plans. We consider the concepts of preservation, curation, provenance, discovery, and access in the context of the research lifecycle, and then focus on the role of metadata, particularly the ontologies on which the emerging chemical Semantic Web will depend. Among our conclusions, we present our choice of the "grand challenges" for the preservation and sharing of chemical information

Digital Image Access & Retrieval

The 33th Annual Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing, held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in March of 1996, addressed the theme of "Digital Image Access & Retrieval." The papers from this conference cover a wide range of topics concerning digital imaging technology for visual resource collections. Papers covered three general areas: (1) systems, planning, and implementation; (2) automatic and semi-automatic indexing; and (3) preservation with the bulk of the conference focusing on indexing and retrieval.published or submitted for publicatio

Achieving interoperability between the CARARE schema for monuments and sites and the Europeana Data Model

Mapping between different data models in a data aggregation context always presents significant interoperability challenges. In this paper, we describe the challenges faced and solutions developed when mapping the CARARE schema designed for archaeological and architectural monuments and sites to the Europeana Data Model (EDM), a model based on Linked Data principles, for the purpose of integrating more than two million metadata records from national monument collections and databases across Europe into the Europeana digital library.Comment: The final version of this paper is openly published in the proceedings of the Dublin Core 2013 conference, see http://dcevents.dublincore.org/IntConf/dc-2013/paper/view/17

DRIVER Technology Watch Report

This report is part of the Discovery Workpackage (WP4) and is the third report out of four deliverables. The objective of this report is to give an overview of the latest technical developments in the world of digital repositories, digital libraries and beyond, in order to serve as theoretical and practical input for the technical DRIVER developments, especially those focused on enhanced publications. This report consists of two main parts, one part focuses on interoperability standards for enhanced publications, the other part consists of three subchapters, which give a landscape picture of current and surfacing technologies and communities crucial to DRIVER. These three subchapters contain the GRID, CRIS and LTP communities and technologies. Every chapter contains a theoretical explanation, followed by case studies and the outcomes and opportunities for DRIVER in this field

Low velocity impact response of rc beam with artificial polyethylene aggregate as concrete block infill

In structural design, an ideal situation for saving materials would be to reduce the weight of the structure without having to compromise on its strength and serviceability. A new lightweight composite reinforced concrete section was developed with a novel use of a lightweight concrete block as infill utilizing Artificial Polyethylene Aggregate (APEA and MAPEA). The concrete near the neutral axis acts as a stress transfer medium between the compression and tension zones. Partial replacement of the concrete near the neutral axis could create a reduction in weight and savings in the use of materials. In this experimental work, APEA and MAPEA were utilized as replacement for normal aggregates (NA) at percentages of 0%, 3%, 6%, and 9%, 12%, and 100% in the concrete mix. In this study, the concrete block infill uses the 100% MAPEA as a replacement for coarse aggregate. A total of sixteen beams were prepared measuring 170 mm × 250 mm × 1000 mm, in which four specimens were used as control samples (NRC) and twelve specimens were the reinforced concrete beam incorporated with different size of concrete block infill (RCAI) consisting of 100% MAPEA. All beams were tested with 100 kg steel weight dropped vertically from a height of 0.6 m and 1.54 m, which was equivalent to 3.5 m/s and 5.5 m/s respectively. Based on the experimental results, the impact force, displacement and crack patterns were affected by the impact load. For RCAI specimens, the impact force was larger but smaller displacement value was observed, compared to the NRC specimens. Furthermore, the width of the cracks generated in the RCAI specimens near the mid-span was less than that on the NRC specimen. All experiment results were validated against FEM. The transient impact force histories, displacement and crack patterns obtained from FEM matched reasonably well with the experiment results. The error reported a range of 1% to 15%. The results showed that the proposed use of concrete block infill produced desirable results under the impact loads. The main advantages of the concrete block infill that utilized MAPEA from waste plastic bags due to the weight reduction about 6% in the concrete beams

Improvement of speed response in four-phase DC–DC converter switching using two shunt voltage-source

This study proposes a technique that is able to improve the speed response of a four-phase DC–DC converter switching. The basic concept of the proposed technique is the inclusion of two shunt-connected voltage sources in series to the converter system. Using a higher input voltage to drive the load, a higher current per microsecond output system will be obtained and reverts to its nominal input upon obtaining desired references. Thus, the transient response observed when using this proposed technique is found to be much faster when compared to the conventional converter. Moreover, this technique is easily implemented as it requires only an additional voltage source, power switch, and power diode. The integrated model of the two shunt voltage-source in a four-phase DC–DC converter was simulated in MATLAB/Simulink and validated against the experimental results of a laboratory prototype, 600 W four-phase DC–DC converter. The novelty of this proposed technique is its ability to provide faster operations for critical loads applications, lower output capacitor and lower operating frequency

The DURAARK project – Long-term preservation of architectural 3D-data

[no abstract available

A Framework to Support Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage Studies Research

Developments in information and communication technologies and their repercussions for how cultural heritage is preserved, used and produced are the subject of several research and innovation efforts in Europe. Advanced digital technologies create new opportunities for cultural heritage to drive innovation. Digital humanities are an important domain for cultural heritage research in Europe and beyond. Digital tools and methods can be used in innovative ways in cultural heritage research. The research and innovation efforts and framework of digital humanities, and cultural heritage as one of its research fields, are influenced by EU policies and legislation. This article describes the existing policy initiatives, practices and related legal setting as framework conditions for digital humanities and cultural heritage research and innovation in Europe – focusing on urban history applications in the age of digital libraries. This is a multifaceted study of the state of the art in policies, legislation and standards – using a survey with 1000 participants, literature surveys on copyrights and policies