1,720,965 research outputs found
Analysis of risk factors for horse falls in eventing cross-country and an investigation of horse/rider stress at eventing competition
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Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Striking a balance: stakeholder perceptions of risk in horse racing
Get PDFBackground:
Thoroughbred racing is a major industry, and in recent years, public concerns about equine safety have become more prominent, particularly in relation to on-track injuries and fatalities. This has challenged the industry's social licence to operate (SLO).
Objectives:
To investigate and elucidate how UK and Irish racing stakeholders perceive risks to racehorses on race day and how those risks should be managed.
Study Design:
Qualitative analysis of stakeholder perspectives using a constructionist approach.
Methods:
Twelve stakeholders from veterinary, communication and regulatory sectors within racing in the UK and Ireland were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Results:
Three key themes were developed ‘Managing Risk, or Managing the Message?’, ‘The Balance between Tradition and Progress on Reducing Risks’, and ‘Attributing Responsibility and the Public Disconnect’. Participants framed risk according to public misunderstanding and effective communication, while others placed increased emphasis on welfare risks and proactive mitigation measures. Some participants viewed ‘accidents’ as unavoidable, others believed that more could be done to minimise avoidable risk. Attribution of responsibility was directed towards various industry stakeholders including trainers, jockeys, regulators and the public. Interviewees noted the industry to be rooted in tradition and slow to adapt to changing expectations.
Main Limitations:
Familiarity between the interviewing researcher and some participants may have encouraged open discussion but could have influenced how responses were framed.
Conclusions:
Stakeholders framed risk in ways shaped by public expectations, culture, tradition and lived experience. There is shared concern for equine welfare and a desire for improved safety measures in conjunction with management of public perceptions. For a sustainable future, internal divisions must be resolved, shared goals established, and proactive engagement with science pursued to safeguard equine welfare and sustain public support
Whoa, No-Go: Evidence consistent with model-based strategy use in horses during an inhibitory task
Get PDFIt is thought horses lack the prospection and brain architecture required for goal-directed, reflective model-based learning which considers future states. We investigate whether horses can use model-based strategy in an inhibitory task. Twenty subjects were trained for three sessions of a Stop-Signal paradigm using positive reinforcement (+R) for correct responding. All twenty failed to reach learning criterion. Subjects continued to touch in “Stop” contingencies indicating horses either: cannot complete Stop-Signal tasks; need further consolidation; or are utilising model-based cost-benefit analysis. Subjects underwent a further three sessions with the addition of negative punishment (+R/-P) as a cost for errors of emission (EE). If horses lack the ability to complete Stop-Signal tasks, EE would remain high across both treatments. If horses found Stop-Signal difficult but the introduction of cost aided their learning, EE would gradually decrease throughout the +R/-P condition. If horses built a cognitive model of the task but developed a strategy of indiscriminate responding in the +R condition, EE would suddenly decrease with the introduction of cost. A significant, immediate reduction in EE was observed when cost was introduced (p=0.02) that remained stable throughout the +R/-P condition providing evidence consistent with model-based cost-benefit analysis in horses
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“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
Get PDFWe 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
Eye understand: physiological measures as novel predictors of adaptive learning in horses.
Get PDFStriatal dopamine is a neurotransmitter that marks reward and mediates reward learning. Spontaneous Eye Blink Rate (SEBR) reflects striatal dopamine activity and could offer a novel, proxy measure of learning performance. Additionally, arousal affects performance in a range of cognitive tasks, but there is less evidence for the relationship between baseline arousal and learning. This study investigated whether SEBR predicts learning performance in an equine model. Further, it investigated novel physiological predictors of learning performance (eye temperature and heart rate variability). Nineteen horses completed a two-choice discrimination reversal learning (RL) task. Performance was measured using a Performance Index. SEBR and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) were measured at rest (home stable) and during RL. Infrared Thermography of eye temperature (IRT) was measured immediately before and after RL. SEBR did not change in response to RL despite being thought to reflect striatal dopamine activity. HRV was higher during RL than at rest though was not statistically significant (p=0.06). Additionally, eye temperature decreased significantly during trials (left eye: p=0.002; right eye: p=0.05). These results indicate lower arousal in response to training, possibly similar to a ‘flow state’ in humans. Results of a negative binomial GLM revealed that SEBR was not associated with performance, however, positive predictors of learning performance included resting HRV (p=0.009), HRV during the task (p=0.002), and left eye temperature change (p<0.0001). The association between left eye temperature and learning performance is consistent with lateralised blood flow to the left-brain hemisphere (responsible for learning targeted responses) and thought to be the first observation of this phenomenon during learning. Lower arousal may facilitate left-hemisphere dominance, creating the cognitive space to respond adaptively in RL. Left hemispheric dominance controls parasympathetic activity, potentially explaining the interactions observed here. Results suggest arousal both in the home and training environment may have important impacts on learning
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe 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
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