The spatial component of R&D networks

We study the role of geography in R&D networks by means of a quantitative, micro-geographic approach. Using a large database that covers international R&D collaborations from 1984 to 2009, we localize each actor precisely in space through its latitude and longitude. This allows us to analyze the R&D network at all geographic scales simultaneously. Our empirical results show that despite the high importance of the city level, transnational R&D collaborations at large distances are much more frequent than expected from similar networks. This provides evidence for the ambiguity of distance in economic cooperation which is also suggested by the existing literature. In addition we test whether the hypothesis of local buzz and global pipelines applies to the observed R&D network by calculating well-defined metrics from network theory.Comment: Working paper, 22 pages, 7 figure

Alice in Wonderland

Illustration of Alice sitting in chair and mad hatter fussing at rabbithttps://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/cht-sheet-music/6620/thumbnail.jp

Ch’oe Namsŏn and Identity Construction through Negotiation with the Colonizer

This paper takes a closer look at Ch’oe Namsŏn’s construction of Korean identity during the colonial period. Ch’oe was ambiguous towards Japan, seeing it as many other intellectuals did, as a model for Korea’s modernization, and was aware that Japan would be both Korea’s “oldest friend” and “biggest obstacle” in this regard. After his imprisonment for his role in the Korean independence movement in 1919, he started to cooperate with the Japanese to influence colonial knowledge production and therefore decided to “negotiate” directly with the colonizer. In his “Treatise on Purham culture,” Ch’oe included Japan in the same cultural sphere and saw it as less of Other than the West and China. While his theses and arguments were based on Japanese research and written in Japanese, Ch’oe maintained a Korean identity within the colonial setting not by a “negation” of Japanese research, but by “negotiation” through its reinterpretation and autoethnography. Due to his referring to Japanese scholars and due to the ambiguity of his mimicry his work can be considered “at once resemblance and menace,” and simultaneously as collaboration and resistance

A System for Continuous Underground Site Mapping and Exploration

3D mapping becomes ever more important not only in industrial mobile robotic applications for AGV and production vehicles but also for search and rescue scenarios. In this chapter we report on our work of mapping and exploring underground mines. Our contribution is two-fold: First, we present our custom-built 3D laser range platform SWAP and compare it against an architectural laser scanner. The advantages are that the mapping vehicle can scan in a continuous mode and does not have to do stop-and-go scanning. The second contribution is the mapping tool mapit which supports and automates the registration of large sets of point clouds. The idea behind mapit is to keep the raw point cloud data as a basis for any map generation and only store all operations executed on the point clouds. This way the initial data do not get lost, and improvements on low-level date (e.g. improved transforms through loop closure) will automatically improve the final maps. Finally, we also present methods for visualization and interactive exploration of such maps

Alice in Wonderland

Illustration of Alice, the Mad Hatter, and rabbit; inset photo of Eddie Cantorhttps://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/cht-sheet-music/8669/thumbnail.jp

AstroGrid-D: Grid Technology for Astronomical Science

We present status and results of AstroGrid-D, a joint effort of astrophysicists and computer scientists to employ grid technology for scientific applications. AstroGrid-D provides access to a network of distributed machines with a set of commands as well as software interfaces. It allows simple use of computer and storage facilities and to schedule or monitor compute tasks and data management. It is based on the Globus Toolkit middleware (GT4). Chapter 1 describes the context which led to the demand for advanced software solutions in Astrophysics, and we state the goals of the project. We then present characteristic astrophysical applications that have been implemented on AstroGrid-D in chapter 2. We describe simulations of different complexity, compute-intensive calculations running on multiple sites, and advanced applications for specific scientific purposes, such as a connection to robotic telescopes. We can show from these examples how grid execution improves e.g. the scientific workflow. Chapter 3 explains the software tools and services that we adapted or newly developed. Section 3.1 is focused on the administrative aspects of the infrastructure, to manage users and monitor activity. Section 3.2 characterises the central components of our architecture: The AstroGrid-D information service to collect and store metadata, a file management system, the data management system, and a job manager for automatic submission of compute tasks. We summarise the successfully established infrastructure in chapter 4, concluding with our future plans to establish AstroGrid-D as a platform of modern e-Astronomy.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures Subjects: data analysis, image processing, robotic telescopes, simulations, grid. Accepted for publication in New Astronom

Practitioner’s Section: Integrated Resource Efficiency Analysis for Reducing Climate Impacts in the Chemical Industry

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions of the material-intensive chemical industry requires an integrated analysis and optimization of the complex production systems including raw material and energy use, resulting costs and environmental and climate impacts. To meet this challenge, the research project InReff (Integrated Resource Efficiency Analysis for Reducing Climate Impacts in the Chemical Industry) has been established. It aims at the development of an IT-supported modeling and evaluation framework which is able to comprehensively address issues of resource efficiency and climate change within the chemical industry, e.g. the minimization of material and energy intensity and consequently greenhouse gas emissions, without compromising on production performance. The paper presents background information on resource efficiency and the research project, an ideal-typical decision model for resource efficiency analysis, the conceptual approach for an IT-based integration platform as well as the case study design at the industrial project partners’ sites. These first results are linked to future activities and further research questions are highlighted in the concluding section

Potenziale für industrieübergreifendes Flottenlernen – KI-Mobilitätsdatenplattform zur Risikominimierung des automatisierten Fahrens

Ob in Transport, Logistik, im Individualverkehr oder im öffentlichen Nahverkehr – Verkehrsträger erreichen dank Künstlicher Intelligenz immer höhere Automatisierungsgrade. Automatisiertes Fahren kann helfen, die Verkehrssicherheit zu erhöhen, Verkehrsflüsse zu optimieren und Schadstoffemissionen zu reduzieren. Durch immer leistungsfähigere Verfahren der KI und des Maschinellen Lernens wird die Technologie des automatisierten Fahrens zunehmend verbessert, sodass sie in mehr als 99 Prozent der Situationen in Real-Tests funktioniert. Ein Restrisiko für mögliches Fehlverhalten tritt im Zusammenhang mit sogenannten Edge und Corner Cases (Grenz- und Übergangsfälle) auf. Für diese selten auftretenden Sonderfälle sind KI-Systeme unter Umständen nicht ausreichend trainiert und getestet. Um die Potenziale des industrieübergreifenden Flottenlernens zu erschließen, schlagen die Expertinnen und Experten der Arbeitsgruppe Mobilität und intelligente Verkehrssysteme der Plattform Lernende Systeme daher die Gründung einer gemeinschaftlichen KI-Mobilitätsdatenplattform vor. Diese Plattform soll den Austausch von Mobilitätsdaten ermöglichen und zur Risikominimierung beim automatisierten Fahren beitragen

Unraveling the deep learning gearbox in optical coherence tomography image segmentation towards explainable artificial intelligence

Machine learning has greatly facilitated the analysis of medical data, while the internal operations usually remain intransparent. To better comprehend these opaque procedures, a convolutional neural network for optical coherence tomography image segmentation was enhanced with a Traceable Relevance Explainability (T-REX) technique. The proposed application was based on three components: ground truth generation by multiple graders, calculation of Hamming distances among graders and the machine learning algorithm, as well as a smart data visualization ('neural recording'). An overall average variability of 1.75% between the human graders and the algorithm was found, slightly minor to 2.02% among human graders. The ambiguity in ground truth had noteworthy impact on machine learning results, which could be visualized. The convolutional neural network balanced between graders and allowed for modifiable predictions dependent on the compartment. Using the proposed T-REX setup, machine learning processes could be rendered more transparent and understandable, possibly leading to optimized applications