1,721,054 research outputs found
An Empirical Analysis of the Determinants of Water Demand in Italy
No full textThis paper investigated factors affecting household water consumption in major Italian towns. Specifically, water demand in 103 Italian towns was analyzed over a five-year period (i.e., 2007 to 2011). Data was collected from each towns on the potential determinants of water consumption, including tariffs, income per capita, weather conditions and geographical and population characteristics. Previously, it was unclear whether a larger presence of public ownership would lead to improved water conservation practices and reductions in water consumption. Consequently, in addition to more commonly studied variables, water utilities ownership was included as a factor that could affect household water consumption. A mixed-effects model was used that contained both fixed effects and random effects.
The results of this study provided interesting insights into the factors driving residential water consumption. The results
confirmed that an applied tariff had a negative effect on residential water consumption. Further, the data showed that towns with larger populations served had higher levels of consumption. In relation to climatic and geographical features, only altitude exerted a significant negative effect on water consumption and temperature and precipitation had no effect on demand. Income per capita was also found not to have a significant effect on water consumption. The results of the study confirmed that water utilities ownership did not have a significant effect on water consumption. Tariffs were found to be significantly lower in towns where the water service was managed by publicly owned water utilities and, thus, water consumption in these towns was higher
Non-trivial chiroptical responses (I). Conformational sensitivity: A case study on (3R)-3-hydroxy-4-aryl-β-lactams
No full textThis study highlights the great importance of even small perturbations in molecular geometry for the definition of
chiroptical properties, and therefore for the stereochemical characterization, of chiral drugs. A thorough DFT
conformational analysis and TD-DFT calculations were needed for a reliable assessment of the absolute configuration
of a (3R)-3-hydroxy-4-thienyl-β-lactam derivative, for which semi-empirical β-lactam sector rules failed to predict
the correct stereochemistry. [Chirality 2012, 24, 741
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
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
Conformational Flexibility and Absolute Stereochemistry of (3R)-3-hydroxy-4-aryl-beta-lactams Investigated by Chiroptical Properties and TD-DFT Calculations
No full textThis is the peer reviewed version of the article which has been published in final form on Chirality 24:741-750 (2012), available at https://doi.org/10.1002/chir.22043. This article may be used for non commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions fo r Use of Self Archived Versions.
This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, o bscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wil ey Online Library must be prohibited.
ABSTRACT
The effect of conformational flexibility on the chiroptical properties of a series of synthetic (3R)-3-hydroxy-4-aryl-β-lactams of known stereochemistry (1–6) was investigated by means of electronic circular dichroism (ECD) measurements and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations. The application of the β-lactam sector rules allowed a correct stereochemical characterization of these compounds, with the exception of a thienyl-substituted derivative (cis-6). TD-DFT calculations yielded accurate predictions of experimental ECD spectra and [α]D values, allowing us to assign the correct absolute configuration to all the investigated compounds. A detailed analysis of the β-lactam ring equilibrium geometry on optimized conformers identified regular patterns for the arrangement of atoms around the amide chromophore, confirming the validity of the β-lactam sector rules. However, relevant variations in theoretical chiroptical properties were found for compounds bearing a heterocyclic substituent at C4 or a phenyl substituent at C3, whose conformers deviate from these regular geometric patterns. This behavior explains the failure of the β-lactam sector rules in cis-6. This study showed the importance of conformational flexibility for the determination of chiroptical properties and highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of the different methods for the stereochemical characterization of chiral molecules in solution
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