Over the past decade there have been many investigations aimed at defining the role of scientists and research groups in their coauthorship networks. Starting from the assumptions of network analysis, in this work we propose an analytical definition of a collaboration potential between authors of scientific papers based on both coauthorships and content sharing. The collaboration potential can also be considered a useful tool to investigate the relationships between a single scientist and research groups, thus allowing for the identification of characteristic "types" of scientists (integrated, independent, etc.). We computed the collaboration potential for a set of authors belonging to research groups of an institute specialized in the field of Medical Genetics. The methods presented in the paper are rather general as they can be applied to compute a collaboration potential for a network of cooperating actors in every situation in which one can qualify the content of some activities and which of them are in common among the actors of the network.

We provide an asymptotic analysis of the optimal cost in a planar network model

We study the inverse problem of determining the conformational freedom of two protein domains from residual dipolar coupling (RDC) measurements. For each paramagnetic ion attached to one of the domains we obtain a magnetic susceptibility tensor ? from the RDC of couples of atoms of that domain, and a mean paramagnetic susceptibility tensor ? ̄ from the RDC of couples of atoms of the other domain. The latter is an integral average of rotations of ? which depends on the conformational freedom of the two domains. In this paper we consider the case when we have data from paramagnetic ions attached separately to each of the domains. We prove that in this case not all the elements of ? and ? ̄ are independent. We derive the mathematical equations for the compatibility of the measurements and show how these relations can be used in the presence of noisy data to determine a compatible set of ? and ? ̄ with an unconstrained minimization. If available, information about the shape of the noise can be included in the target function. We show that in this case the compatible set obtained has a reduced error with respect to the noisy data.

Magnetic tomography is an ill-posed and ill-conditioned inverse problem since, in general, the solution is non-unique and the measured magnetic field is affected by high noise. We use a joint sparsity constraint to regularize the magnetic inverse problem. This leads to a minimization problem whose solution can be approximated by an iterative thresholded Landweber algorithm. The algorithm is proved to be convergent and an error estimate is also given. Numerical tests on a bidimensional problem show that our algorithm outperforms Tikhonov regularization when the measurements are distorted by high noise.

This paper presents a novel approach for the extraction of the transients content of audio signals, usually represented as superposition of stationary, transient, and stochastic components. The proposed model exploits the predictable and peculiar time-scale behavior of transients by modeling them as superposition of suitable wavelet atoms. These latter allow to predict transients information even at scales where the tonal component is dominant. In this way it is possible to avoid, if required, the pre-analysis of the tonal component. Extensive experimental results show that the proposed model achieves good performances with a moderate computational effort and without any user's dependence.

This special issue collects papers which develop and update methodologies and results illustrated at the International Workshop MASCOT01--1st Meeting on Applied Scientific Computing and Tools-- Grid Generation, Approximated Solutions and Visualization, held in Rome, October 22-24, 2001 at the Istituto per le Applicazioni del Calcolo (IAC). The meeting was supported by IMACS, the International Association for Mathematics and Computers in Simulation and ISGG, the International Society of Grid Generation and co-sponsored by the Italian National Group of Scientific Computing (GNCS-- Gruppo Nazionale di Calcolo Scientifico) and the Italian Society for Applied and Industrial Mathematics (SIMAI--Societa' Italiana per la Matematica Applicata e Industriale). Publication of the MASCOT01 Proceedings followed the Workshop, and in this issue, extensions and new results are presented. MASCOT meetings are intended to become a forum to discuss a wide spectrum of topics concerning scientific computing as applied to the effective solution of complex application problems. Thus topics range from theoretical to application inquiries and results, and include investigation in approximation and interpolation, advances in numerical grid generation, development of effective solvers of partial differential equations (PDEs) and the design of user-friendly and effective software tools. Modern and innovative modeling and simulation environments combine a large amount of expertise to handle complex and multidisciplinary application problems.

SBML model of rheumatoid arthritis

The paper describes a low-invasive experimental apparatus designed for the accurate determination of mechanical deformation and moisture content (MC) relationship on macroscopic wood samples. The device is particularly indicated for monitoring wooden handwork whose mechanical deformation is especially critical in relation to its role such as, for example, works of art or architectural works. The MC of wood is measured with a portable single-sided NMR probe and mechanical deformation by a fiber Bragg grating optical sensor. The data obtained are of high accuracy, despite the dimensions of the sample. The methodology provides an effective tool for investigating the dynamic relation between environmental relative humidity, MC, and shrinking-swelling of wood. Adsorption results collected for longitudinal deformation in silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) are presented to show the sensitivity of the optical sensor. Interesting findings include the detection of two different mechanisms of elongation and the time evolution of water mobility versus hydration and strain. © 2009 Springer-Verlag.

The paper presents a two-stage approach for ship design optimisation under uncertainties related to stochastic parameters that cannot be controlled by the designer. The designer decision is partitioned into two sets: the first contains variables that have to be decided before the onset of any uncertain condition, while the second Involves variables that may be decided once the random events have occurred. The first-stage variables are selected so that the sum of the first-stage cost and the expectation of the second-stage cost is minimised. The problem is solved as a two-nested-loop minimisation problem, which combines robustness of the first-stage decision with flexibility of the second-stage decision. The approach is applied to the conceptual optimisation of a bulk carrier. © 2010 Institute of Ship Technology and Ocean Engineering.

Lo studio che viene presentato è relativo ad una serie di indagini sistematiche che il Comitato pari opportunità (Cpo) del Cnr sta conducendo da anni per monitorare lo sviluppo di carriera dei ricercatori e delle ricercatrici all'interno dell'ente. Vengono considerati vari aspetti quali: l'evoluzione della carriera per genere negli ultimi dieci anni, sia a livello complessivo che a livello dipartimentale. In particolare, l'avanzamento di carriera analizzato nei singoli dipartimenti (11) in cui sono suddivisi i progetti di ricerca del Cnr mostra, in maniera evidente, come col progredire del livello di responsabilità diminuisca la presenza femminile in modo palese in quasi tutti i settori disciplinari. Viene mostrata anche in dettaglio la leadership maschile negli organi di governo dell'ente, così come nell'ambito delle unità operative del VI Programma quadro. Infine si fa una analisi per tipologia, genere e fasce d'età del personale di ruolo e a tempo determinato per fare il punto sul reclutamento del personale di ricerca. Questa analisi sulla carriera delle ricercatrici all'interno del Cnr viene presentata alla Conferenza nazionale di statistica in quanto l'Istat persegue la diffusione dei dati di genere per lunga tradizione ad opera di proprio personale esperto e precursore nel settore.