4,967 research outputs found
Finding Person Relations in Image Data of the Internet Archive
The multimedia content in the World Wide Web is rapidly growing and contains
valuable information for many applications in different domains. For this
reason, the Internet Archive initiative has been gathering billions of
time-versioned web pages since the mid-nineties. However, the huge amount of
data is rarely labeled with appropriate metadata and automatic approaches are
required to enable semantic search. Normally, the textual content of the
Internet Archive is used to extract entities and their possible relations
across domains such as politics and entertainment, whereas image and video
content is usually neglected. In this paper, we introduce a system for person
recognition in image content of web news stored in the Internet Archive. Thus,
the system complements entity recognition in text and allows researchers and
analysts to track media coverage and relations of persons more precisely. Based
on a deep learning face recognition approach, we suggest a system that
automatically detects persons of interest and gathers sample material, which is
subsequently used to identify them in the image data of the Internet Archive.
We evaluate the performance of the face recognition system on an appropriate
standard benchmark dataset and demonstrate the feasibility of the approach with
two use cases
On compressive radial tidal forces
Radial tidal forces can be compressive instead of disruptive, a possibility
that is frequently overlooked in high level physics courses. For example,
radial tidal compression can emerge in extended stellar systems containing a
smaller stellar cluster. For particular conditions the tidal field produced by
this extended mass distribution can exert on the cluster it contains
compressive effects instead of the common disruptive forces. This interesting
aspect of gravity can be derived from standard relations given in many
textbooks and introductory courses in astronomy and can serve as an opportunity
to look closer at some aspects of gravitational physics, stellar dynamics, and
differential geometry. The existence of compressive tides at the center of huge
stellar systems might suggest new evolutionary scenarios for the formation of
stars and primordial galactic formation processes.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figure
Gender Balance in Construction Material Research: The Analysis of Alkali-Activated Materials by a Bibliometric Study Using Scopus Database
Research in alkali-activated materials (AAMs) is an innovative and dynamic material science topic. This is due to the relevant performances in terms of physico-mechanical properties comparable to traditional construction materials (e.g., ordinary Portland cement). The sustainability of AAMs is often highlighted since they can be developed by using many natural or industrial by-products–based precursors. This leads to challenges with the optimization of AAM production due to their different performances, availability, and costs. However, they are flexible and locally adapted materials. The research interest in AAMs has rapidly increased in the early 2000s. In recent years, about 1,000 international articles have been published each year. This study aims at assessing the gender balance of this specific research topic to investigate the relevance of women’s participation. Author lists of the published articles were analyzed throughout the Scopus database, applying “alkali-activated material” and “geopolymers” as keywords in the titles, abstracts, and keywords search. The last 10 years (2009–2019) were taken into account. The gender of the most prolific authors was analyzed, and a focus of European authors on this topic was considered, as more than 25% of the research in AAMs have been carried out in Europe. The analysis of 5,900 publications in the last decade shows that there is currently a shift toward men in the gender balance in this specific research, and female authors only covered 22% of the most productive authors worldwide. Considering European authors, a more equal gender distribution is reached, when the first author is considered, with a concentration of women in the range of 36–56%, recorded over 1,396 articles
Optical mapping of neuronal activity during seizures in zebrafish
Mapping neuronal activity during the onset and propagation of epileptic seizures can provide a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying this pathology and improve our approaches to the development of new drugs. Recently, zebrafish has become an important model for studying epilepsy both in basic research and in drug discovery. Here, we employed a transgenic line with pan-neuronal expression of the genetically-encoded calcium indicator GCaMP6s to measure neuronal activity in zebrafish larvae during seizures induced by pentylenetretrazole (PTZ). With this approach, we mapped neuronal activity in different areas of the larval brain, demonstrating the high sensitivity of this method to different levels of alteration, as induced by increasing PTZ concentrations, and the rescuing effect of an anti-epileptic drug. We also present simultaneous measurements of brain and locomotor activity, as well as a high-throughput assay, demonstrating that GCaMP measurements can complement behavioural assays for the detection of subclinical epileptic seizures, thus enabling future investigations on human hypomorphic mutations and more effective drug screening methods. Notably, the methodology described here can be easily applied to the study of many human neuropathologies modelled in zebrafish, allowing a simple and yet detailed investigation of brain activity alterations associated with the pathological phenotype
In Pursuit of Closed-Loop Supply Chains for Critical Materials: An Exploratory Study in the Green Energy Sector
© 2018 by Yale University A closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) is considered not only an important solution for ensuring sustainable exploitation of materials, but also a promising strategy for securing long-term availability of materials. The latter is especially highlighted in the materials criticality discourse. Critical raw materials (CRMs), being exposed to supply disruptions, create an uncertain operational environment for many industries, particularly for green energy technologies that employ multiple CRMs. However, recycling rates of CRMs are very low and engagement of companies in CLSC for CRM is limited. This study examines factors influencing CLSC for CRM development in photovoltaic panels and wind turbine technologies. The aim is to analyze how the factors manifest themselves in different companies along the supply chain and to identify enabling and bottleneck conditions for implementation of CLSC for CRM. The novelty of the study is twofold: the focus on material rather than product flows, and examination of factors from a multiactor perspective. The evidence obtained suggests that the manufacturing companies and reverse supply-chain operators engaged in the study take different perspectives (product vs. material) regarding development of CLSC for CRM and thus emphasize different factors. The findings underline the need for interactions between supply-chain actors, a sound competitive environment for recycling processes, and investment in technologies and infrastructure development if CLSC for CRM is to be developed. The paper provides implications for practitioners and policy makers for implementation of CLSC for CRM, and suggests prospects for further research
Low temperature dynamics of kinks on Ising interfaces
The anisotropic motion of an interface driven by its intrinsic curvature or
by an external field is investigated in the context of the kinetic Ising model
in both two and three dimensions. We derive in two dimensions (2d) a continuum
evolution equation for the density of kinks by a time-dependent and nonlocal
mapping to the asymmetric exclusion process. Whereas kinks execute random walks
biased by the external field and pile up vertically on the physical 2d lattice,
then execute hard-core biased random walks on a transformed 1d lattice. Their
density obeys a nonlinear diffusion equation which can be transformed into the
standard expression for the interface velocity v = M[(gamma + gamma'')kappa +
H]$, where M, gamma + gamma'', and kappa are the interface mobility, stiffness,
and curvature, respectively. In 3d, we obtain the velocity of a curved
interface near the orientation from an analysis of the self-similar
evolution of 2d shrinking terraces. We show that this velocity is consistent
with the one predicted from the 3d tensorial generalization of the law for
anisotropic curvature-driven motion. In this generalization, both the interface
stiffness tensor and the curvature tensor are singular at the
orientation. However, their product, which determines the interface velocity,
is smooth. In addition, we illustrate how this kink-based kinetic description
provides a useful framework for studying more complex situations by modeling
the effect of immobile dilute impurities.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure
Large deviations for the macroscopic motion of an interface
We study the most probable way an interface moves on a macroscopic scale from an initial to a final position within a fixed time in the context of large deviations for a stochastic microscopic lattice system of Ising spins with Kac interaction evolving in time according to Glauber (non-conservative) dynamics. Such interfaces separate two stable phases of a ferromagnetic system and in the macroscopic scale are represented by sharp transitions. We derive quantitative estimates for the upper and the lower bound of the cost functional that penalizes all possible deviations and obtain explicit error terms which are valid also in the macroscopic scale. Furthermore, using the result of a companion paper about the minimizers of this cost functional for the macroscopic motion of the interface in a fixed time, we prove that the probability of such events can concentrate on nucleations should the transition happen fast enough
Elliptic CMB Sky
The ellipticity of the anisotropy spots of the Cosmic Microwave Background
measured by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) has been studied.
We find an average ellipticity of about 2, confirming with a far larger
statistics similar results found first for the COBE-DMR CMB maps, and then for
the BOOMERanG CMB maps. There are no preferred directions for the obliquity of
the anisotropy spots. The average ellipticity is independent of temperature
threshold and is present on scales both smaller and larger than the horizon at
the last scattering. The measured ellipticity characteristics are consistent
with being the effect of geodesics mixing occurring in an hyperbolic Universe,
and can mark the emergence of CMB ellipticity as a new observable constant
describing the Universe. There is no way of simulating this effect. Therefore
we cannot exclude that the observed behavior of the measured ellipticity can
result from a trivial topology in the popular flat -CDM model, or from
a non-trivial topology.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, the version to appear in Mod.Phys.Lett.
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