1,721,154 research outputs found
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The 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
Screening of pH-responsie hydrogels for encapsulation of bacteria for concrete crack self-healing
Development of coatings for indoor building materials in order to fight againts microbial growth inside buildings : efficiency and mechanisms
Ces travaux s'appuient sur un contexte de santé lié à la dégradation de la qualité de l'air intérieur induite par la présence de micro-organismes. Dans les environnements intérieurs humides, les matériaux de construction sont des cibles de contamination et de prolifération microbienne importantes. La photocatalyse est un procédé de dépollution qui présente une action contre une large gamme de polluants organiques (aqueux, gazeux ou biologiques). Son principe repose sur l'excitation d'un photocatalyseur par une irradiation lumineuse, généralement située dans les UV, qui va permettre de dégrader les polluants environnants par une succession de réactions d'oxydo-réduction. Le photocatalyseur le plus courant est le dioxyde de titane (TiO2). Outre la production d'espèces oxydo-réductrices agressives, le TiO2 illuminé présente également un caractère super-hydrophile qui lui confère un caractère autonettoyant intéressant. Une autre solution est envisagée pour lutter contre la prolifération microbienne sur matériaux de construction : l'utilisation de molécule bio-sourcées d'ester de glycérol aux propriétés naturellement antimicrobienne. L'objectif de cette étude est de développer des revêtements pour matériaux de construction intérieurs et d'étudier leur propriété de résistance à la prolifération microbienne et les modes d'action de ces dispositifs passifs formulés soit à base de particules de TiO2, soit à base d'ester de gycérol. Dans un premier temps, un travail de développement et de mise en œuvre de dispositifs expérimentaux a été nécessaire afin d'adapter des méthodes d'évaluation microbiologiques sur ces matériaux particuliers (particules, lasures, matériaux cimentaires). Ainsi, plusieurs essais ont été adaptés afin d'évaluer les performances antimicrobiennes en terme (i) d'activité antibactérienne, (ii) d'effet bactéricide, (iii) de résistance à la formation de biofilm et (iv) de résistance à la prolifération par contamination " naturelle ". Les premiers essais visent à mettre en évidence l'impact des facteurs méthodologiques sur l'activité antibactérienne des particules de TiO2 utilisées seules comme agent désinfectant. Dans un deuxième temps, des lasures photocatalytiques sont formulées sur la base de travaux antérieurs ayant montrés de bonnes efficacités de dépollution de l'air contre les NOx, NO et différents COV. Une fois les paramètres d'influence de l'activité du TiO2 mis en exergue, les lasures ont été testées dans des conditions optimales. Le développement d'un essai de résistance à la prolifération de biofilm montre l'importance de coupler différentes méthodes d'évaluation microbiologique (dénombrement des UFC et observation au microscope à épifluorescence). La dernière partie de cette étude explore le potentiel antimicrobien de la molécule d'ester de glycérol, sous-produit de la synthèse de biocarburant. La molécule montre des propriétés antibactériennes et bactéricides puissantes en quelques minutes de contact seulement. Elle présente également une protection très efficace contre la prolifération microbienne une fois recouverte sur matériaux de construction (placo-plâtre). Ces performances remarquables encouragent la poursuite des études sur cette molécule.This work is included in a health-related context: the degradation of the indoor air quality induced by the presence of microorganisms. In damp environments, indoor building materials are among the main proliferation substrates for microorganisms. Photocatalysis is a decontamination process which is active against a wide range of organic pollutants (aqueous, gaseous or biological). The principle is based on the excitation of a photocatalyst by light irradiation, usually located in the UV-range, which leads to the degradation or mineralization of surrounding pollutants through a series of oxidative reactions. The most common photocatalyst is titanium dioxide (TiO2). In addition to produce aggressive redox species, the illuminated TiO2 also shows super-hydrophilicity, which has an impact on the first step of microbial biofilm formation: the adhesion of microorganisms. Another technology to protect indoor building materials is explored: the use of glycerol esters, which are bio-based molecules with inherent antimicrobial properties. The main objective of this study is to develop semi-transparent coatings for indoor building materials and to study the resistance to microbial growth conferred by these passive devices, which are formulated using TiO2 nanoparticles or glycerol esters. Initially, the development and implementation of experimental devices has been necessary to adapt microbiological evaluation methods to these particular materials (nanoparticles, surface coatings, cementitious materials). Thus, several tests have been carried out in order to assess the antimicrobial performances in terms of (i) antibacterial activity, (ii) bactericidal effect, (iii) resistance to biofilm formation and (iv) resistance to proliferation by "natural" contamination. First tests aimed to underline the influence of methodological parameters on the efficiency of TiO2 particles used alone as antimicrobial agent. Then, semi-transparent coatings were formulated on the basis of previous works which have shown good efficiencies on the depollution of ambient air from NOx, NO and VOC. Once the parameters that influence TiO2 activity were identified, coatings were tested in optimum conditions. The evaluation of the resistance to biofilm formation shows the importance of overlapping different microbiological evaluation methods (e.g. CFU counting and epifluorescence observations). The last part was an exploratory work on the antimicrobial properties of a glycerol ester molecule, by-product from the synthesis of biofuels. The molecule shows potent antibacterial and bactericidal properties, several log of inactivation within only few minutes of contact. It also provides very effective protection against microbial growth once covered on building materials (plasterboard). These remarkable performances encourage further studies on this molecule
Variations on the Author
“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
We 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
Healing depth and functionality regain of non-axenic granulated culture based self-healing concrete
A review on utilization of pozzolanic materials in microbial concrete
Microbial calcite precipitation has been intensively studied recently for the improvement of
compressive strength and durability of concrete, including those with pozzolanic materials such
as metakaolin (MK), fly ash (FA), and silica fume (SF). Such materials possess high pozzolanic
activity and have become an essential part of high strength and high performance concrete mix
design. However, when replacing cement at high proportion, it has been found that such
materials can cause a decrease of freeze-thaw resistance and early age strength of concrete. To
remedy the defects, microbial calcite precipitation, a continuous extracellular cementation
process dominated by bacteria, has been used to improve the engineering properties of such
concrete. This article gives an overview of the biocementation process for the improvement of
compressive strength and durability of concrete where cement was partially replaced with mk,
fa, and sf. It has been found that properties like compressive strength, and durability of
pozzolanic concrete can be improved with microbial calcite precipitation
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
We 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
Granules with activated compact denitrifying core (ACDC) for self-healing concrete with corrosion protection functionality
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