1,720,959 research outputs found
Mercury in honey from the Marche region (central Italy). Risk assessment from human consumption and its use as bioindicator of environmental pollution
No full textHoney is a natural product made by honeybees (Apis mellifera) from nectar or honeydew. It is a very popular and appreciated product all over the world as it represents a rapidly available energy source and exerts several beneficial properties for humans. However, it has been demonstrated that honey can be contaminated by potentially toxic elements (PTEs) of natural or anthropogenic origin. Among them, mercury (Hg) represents one of the most dangerous for its toxicity and its capacity to biomagnify along the trophic web. In the present study, 100 honey samples from the Marche Region (Central Italy) produced in the year 2021, were analyzed by thermal decomposition amalgamation atomic absorption spectrometry to determine the Hg content. The overall mean concentration was 0.2 ± 0.2 μg kg-1. The results showed that no statistically significant differences were found in Hg content among honey from different pollen origin, but honeydew had a significantly higher Hg content with respect to all other honey samples (0.6 ± 0.3 μg kg-1). The Hg content in honey depends mainly on local pollution, while geographical origin did not play a key role. Furthermore, considering the regulatory limits and provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWIs) identified by FAO/WHO, the Hg Hazard Quotient (HQ) measurement revealed that this product is safe for human consumption
Unlocking the elemental signature of European tea gardens: Implications for tea traceability
Full text linkThis study presents a comprehensive analysis of the elemental profiles of tea leaves coming from plants grown in several European gardens, with a focus on the bioaccumulation of essential and potentially toxic trace elements in relation to processing and location of tea garden. Samples were collected from various gardens across Europe, including Portugal, the Azores, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Elemental analysis was conducted on fresh tea leaves, dried leaves, and leaves processed for the production of green and black tea, along with soil samples from the root zones of tea plants. The results reveal no significant differences in elemental content based on the processing of tea leaves. However, distinct elemental profiles were observed among tea leaves of plants grown in gardens from different European regions. Utilizing chemometric and machine learning tools, the study highlights the potential of these elemental profiles for enhancing the traceability of tea products
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
Dissolved Potentially Toxic Elements (PTEs) in Relation to Depuration Plant Outflows in Adriatic Coastal Waters: A Two Year Monitoring Survey
No full textThe Adriatic Sea is vulnerable to pollution due to its low bathymetry, intense industrial activity, and tourism. In this context, a good depuration plant activity could play a key role for the maintenance of a good environmental quality. In the framework of the AdSWiM project, “Managed use of treated urban wastewater for the quality of the Adriatic Sea”, a study on dissolved potentially toxic element (PTE) levels was carried out to assess the impact of treated urban wastewaters on the quality of the bathing waters in the Adriatic Sea during the 2019 and 2020 summer period. In the present study, three areas along the Italian–Croatian coastline (Gulf of Trieste, Zadar, and Split) were identified for the monitoring of five depuration plant (DP) outflows. Water samples were collected after the treatment inside the DPs, and coastal seawater was sampled in the proximity of the discharging pipelines. Dissolved Hg, Cd, and As levels were determined with an atomic fluorescence spectrometer. Results did not show statistically significant differences between treated wastewater and seawater samples (Hg 10 ± 6 and 10 ± 4, Cd 14 ± 6 and 21 ± 8, As 610 ± 176 and 687 ± 140 ng L−1, respectively), while the geographical area and the seasonality affected the PTE concentration. Furthermore, the levels detected were lower than the European and national limits, indicating a good environmental status of the northern Adriatic Sea waters. The determination of further parameters (nutrients, microbiological indicators) must be investigated to identify possible synergistic effects. However, our results demonstrate the efficiency of DPs investigated, underlining the importance of the wastewater treatment for the protection of the Adriatic Sea
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
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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