1,720,974 research outputs found

    Technological interdependencies and employment changes in European industries

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    This work addresses the role of inter-sectoral innovation flows, which we frame as technological interdependencies, in determining sectoral employment dynamics. This purpose is achieved through the construction of an indicator capturing the amount of R&D expenditures embodied in the backward linkages of industries. We aim to find out whether having a more integrated production in terms of requiring more technological inputs is related to a lower demand for workers within the sector. We refer to the literature on innovation-employment nexus, inter-sectoral knowledge spillovers and Global Value Chains, building upon structuralist and evolutionary theoretical considerations. We track the flows of embodied technological change between industries taking advantage of the notion of vertically integrated sectors. The relevance of this vertical technological dimension for determining employment dynamics is then tested on a panel data of European industries over the 2008-2014 period. Results show a statistically significant and negative employment impact of the degree of vertical integration in terms of acquisitions of R&D embodied inputs. Combining the role of demand, the double nature of innovation - as product and as process -, together with inter-sectoral linkages, this work shows that the dependence of a sector from innovation performed by other ones - a proxy for input embodied process innovations - exert a negative effect upon employment

    From the anther to the proctodeum: Pear (Pyrus communis) pollen digestion in Osmia cornuta larvae

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    Modifications of the pollen grains of Pyrus communis Linneaus that occur during the digestion by Osmia cornuta (Latreille) larvae were studied histochemically. We compared the features of the pollen grains found in the anthers, in the larval cell provisions and in the alimentary canal of the 5th instar larvae. Modifications were already evident in the provisions and consisted of protoplast protrusions through the apertures and a decrease in the number of starch-containing pollen grains. After pollen grains were ingested by the larvae, the protoplast appeared retracted from the pollen wall. Pollen digestion began in the anterior part of the midgut, where we observed: (1) disorganised intine at the apertures; (2) disappearance of DAPI staining of nuclear pollen DNA; (3) fewer pollen grains containing starch than in the anthers; (4) some empty pollen grains. Pollen grains in the proctodeum appeared extremely compressed and crushed. Some grains appeared to be unaffected by the digestive process. We hypothesise that the protrusion of the intine and of the protoplast from the apertures in bee provisions could be considered a kind of pre-treatment necessary to initiate the digestion process in the larval alimentary canal

    From the anther to the proctodeum: pear (Pyrus communis) pollen digestion in Osmia cornuta larvae

    No full text
    Modifications of the pollen grains of Pyrus communis Linneaus that occur during the digestion by Osmia cornuta (Latreille) larvae were studied histochemically. We compared the features of the pollen grains found in the anthers, in the larval cell provisions and in the alimentary canal of the 5th instar larvae. Modifications were already evident in the provisions and consisted of protoplast protrusions through the apertures and a decrease in the number of starch-containing pollen grains. After pollen grains were ingested by the larvae, the protoplast appeared retracted from the pollen wall. Pollen digestion began in the anterior part of the midgut, where we observed: (1) disorganised intine at the apertures; (2) disappearance of DAPI staining of nuclear pollen DNA; (3) fewer pollen grains containing starch than in the anthers; (4) some empty pollen grains. Pollen grains in the proctodeum appeared extremely compressed and crushed. Some grains appeared to be unaffected by the digestive process. We hypothesise that the protrusion of the intine and of the protoplast from the apertures in bee provisions could be considered a kind of pre-treatment necessary to initiate the digestion process in the larval alimentary canal. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

    Effect of relative humidity on water content, viability and carbohydrate profile of Petunia hybrida and Cucurbita pepo pollen

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    Petunia hybrida and Cucurbita pepo pollen was exposed to 30 and 75% relative humidity (RH). Water content, viability and carbohydrate content (glucose, fructose, sucrose and starch) were measured at fixed intervals over 6 h. Water content of C. pepo pollen decreased drastically at both RHs, while P. hybrida pollen dehydrated slightly at RH 30% and hydrated at RH 75%. The pollen of the two species also showed very different sensitivity to dehydration. P. hybrida pollen was resistant to desiccation, with viability remaining around 80% throughout the experiment, whereas C. pepo was very sensitive to desiccation, showing an abrupt decrease in viability when its water content reached about 13% (fresh weight basis) at both RHs. Carbohydrate content was also different in the two species. Sucrose content increased soon after dehydration of P. hybrida pollen at RH 30%, whereas it remained almost constant in C. pepo pollen at the same RH. The results are discussed in the framework of basic pollen physiology and of plant reproductive strategy. © Springer-Verlag 2009

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    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

    Variations on the Author

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    “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

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    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

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

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    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
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