1,653 research outputs found
Taxonomy, phylogenetic and biogeographical relationships of African grassland Francolins (Genus: Scleroptila)
No full textBibliography: leaves 23-28.The potential for using a combination of molecular and whole-organismal data has opened up new avenues for avian taxonomy, phylogenetics and biogeography. Such a multifaceted approach is used here to identify diagnosable taxa within the Orange River Francolin Scleroptila levaillanloides species complex and resolve evolutionary relationships between these taxa and other mono-and polytypic forms within the Red-winged Group of francolins (= genus Scleroplila sensli lalo). Mitochondrial cytochrome-b DNA sequence data (±250 b.p.) from 50 individuals and 19 morphological characters extracted from reports in published literature were employed to achieve these aims. These characters were analysed separately and also in combination using maximum parsimony (DNA sequences and organismal data), maximum likelihood (DNA sequences) and distance (DNA sequences) analyses. Monophyly of the Red-winged Group plus the Ring-necked Francolin Dendroperdix slreptophorus was supported by all the analyses (bootstrap support ranged from 50%-94%) except distance analysis. The Orange River Francolin complex was found to be non-monophyletic. Two distinct clades were identified, one comprising taxa from southwestern and the other from northeastern Africa. Morphological analysis yielded a distinct clade of the southwestern Orange River Francolin. The other polytypic species and assemblages thereof show poor resolution. The results of this study clearly demonstrate a need for further assessment of the taxonomic status of Scleroptila spp. and their phylogenetic relationships
Taxonomy, phylogeny and eco-biogeography of southern African white-eyes (Zosterops spp.) Aves: order Passeriformes, Family: Zosteropidae
No full textIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (p. 193-216).The aim of this study was to incorporate all lines of evidence to establish the true taxonomy and phylogeny of southern African Zosterops. Character data sets used include plumage and morphometric measures, vocal characters and molecular (mitochondrial and nuclear) DNA sequences. A broad scale phylogeographic analysis was also performed to establish the evolutionary process driving the diversity observed among these birds
Scholarly Communication and Publishing Lunch and Learn Talk #11: The ULS Open Access Author Fee Fund
No full textAt the May 2014 talk, you will learn about the ULS Open Access Author Fee Fund--what it is, why we do it, how it works, and how the program is going so far
Figure 6 in Suprageneric relationships of galliform birds (Aves, Galliformes): a cladistic analysis of morphological characters
No full textFigure 6. Character supporting the monophyly of quails – secondary fossa pneumaticum on proximal end of humerus well developed (character 56). Caudal views of humeri: A, Crax globulosa; B, Numida meleagris; C, Meleagris gallopavo; D, Phasianus colchicus; E, Colinus virginianus. Not to scale – this figure reproduced from Holman (1964: Plate 2) with permission of the Florida Academy of Sciences. Abbreviations: pn, fossa pneumaticum; spn, second well-developed fossa pneumaticum.Published as part of Dyke, Gareth J., Gulas, Bonnie E. & Crowe, Timothy M., 2003, Suprageneric relationships of galliform birds (Aves, Galliformes): a cladistic analysis of morphological characters, pp. 227-244 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 137 (2) on page 234, DOI: 10.1046/j.1096-3642.2003.00048.x, http://zenodo.org/record/543742
Narrative threads: ethnographic tourism, Romani tourist tales, and fiber art
No full textThis thesis examines the need for the ethnographer to process their own emotions and experiences as part of the ethnographic experience. Specifically, it argues for the credibility of artistic expression resulting from fieldwork.
Drawing on the author’s experience during the 2012 inaugural "Romani Music, Culture, and Human Rights" study abroad program at the University of Pittsburgh, this thesis offers an analysis of five works of fiber art. Originally perceived by the author as separate from the thesis writing process, they became an integral part of thesis once they were recognized as the non-verbal processing of the my emotional response to events abroad and, therefore, essential components of the research process.
I argue that emotional processing is an integral part of writing an ethnography, for as the ethnographer works through their experiences, their understanding of the events changes, and this in turn impacts the ways in which the ethnographic is perceived and analyzed
Population genetics, behavioural ecology and management of the Greywing Francolin Francolinus africanus
No full textBibliography: p. 237-249.This study investigates the population genetics and behavioural ecology of the Greywing Francolin, Francolinus africanus, and identifies factors which influence the distribution and abundance of this important gamebird. It also develops scientifically sound management strategies which should allow the maintenance of populations at levels which will produce sustained and economically viable hunting yields as a co-product of agriculture. Examination of genetic variability based on allozymes disclosed estimates of average within-population heterozygosity higher than that for most birds, and for all other galliformes for which data are available. Thus, Greywing apparently have a high degree of population stability and large effective population sizes. Indirect estimates of migration and several significant allelefrequency differences between nearby coveys suggest that there is a greater degree of genetic subdivision among Greywing populations than among populations of other birds. However, although the data suggest that populations are genetically differentiated on a large geographical scale, they also indicate that there is considerable dispersal, which produces outbred subpopulations on a fine geographical scale. Greywing therefore have a wealth of genetic variability that may 'buffer' populations against environmental changes, responsible hunting and/or short-term demographic bottlenecks. They also appear to undergo sufficient migration so that recruitment from adjacent populations will ensure population stability in hunted areas
Evaluating Research Impact through Open Access to Scholarly Communication
No full textScientific research is a competitive business – in order to secure funding, promotion and tenure researchers must demonstrate their work has impact in their field. To maximise impact researchers undertake high priority research, aim to get results first, and publish in the highest impact journals. The Internet now presents a new opportunity to the scholarly author seeking higher impact: s/he can now make their work instantly accessible on the Web through author self-archiving. This growing body of open access literature (coupled with new publishing models that make journals available for-free to the reader) maximises research impact by maximising the number of people who can read it, and making it available sooner. Open access also provides a new opportunity for bibliometric research. This thesis describes the relatively recent phenomenon of open access to research literature, tools that were built to collect and analyse that literature, and the results of analyses of the effect of open access and its effect on author behaviour. It shows that articles self-archived by authors receive between 50-250% more citations, that rapid pre-printing on the Web has dramatically reduced the peak citation rate from over a year to virtually instant and how citation-impact – now widely used for evaluation – can be expanded to include a new web metric of download impact
A new breed of publisher: towards open global sharing
No full textThis presentation was given at the Publishing in Libraries Conference at the College at Brockport, State University of New York on March 20, 2015 as part of a panel discussion entitled 'The repository as publisher: opportunities and challenges in a dual role', with Benjamin Hockenberry, Jessica Clemons, and Timothy Deliyannides. The presentation gives an overview of the evolution of the publishing program at the University of Pittsburgh beginning with the dissemination of new scholarly content through author self-archiving repositories and leading to the publication of scholarly peer-reviewed journals with partners located around the world. Pitt's journal publishing program is detailed. The presentation highlights the library's unique perspective, values, and commitment to openly sharing scholarly research in all its forms worldwide
Towards new modes of publishing and information-sharing among researchers at Pitt and internationally
No full textThe Office of Scholarly Communication and Publishing (OSCP) at the University of Pittsburgh Library System is engaged in a wide range of activities to support scholarly communication for researchers at Pitt, with special emphasis on promoting open access to research for the global community of scholars. In this talk, an overview of the activities of OSCP will be shown. In particular, the library’s extensive journal publishing program, D-scholarship@Pitt (publishing via institutional repository), the open access author fee fund, and innovations in measuring the scholarly impact of researchers at Pitt will be described. Additionally, the talk will explore the underlying philosophy and policies behind these activities, and explain the strategic goals of Pitt’s University Library System to demonstrate leadership in scholarly communications, publishing, and information sharing
Marker-Based Paternity Test in Polycross Breeding of Timothy
No full textAlthough the polycross is a useful and cost effective mating design, a lack of paternal pedigree information is a major limitation for polycross breeding in forage grasses such as timothy (Phleum pratense L.). This study describes a paternity test for use in timothy breeding using polymorphic data on 27 genomic simple sequence repeat markers. The paternity test is a simple exclusion statistical test with a combination of maternal information. It successfully determined paternity (success rate = 97%) for 112 progeny plants derived from three polycross groups (A, B, and D). Indirectly selected paternal parents in polycrosses were inferior to maternal parents directly selected by polycross progeny tests mainly for forage yield. Chi-squared values (χ2) in goodness-of-fit tests of the frequency distribution of paternal parents compared with the expected probabilities revealed unbalanced selection in Polycrosses B and D (χ2 = 141.4*** and 82.7***, respectively). Significant differences among the maternal and paternal parents in breeding values for competitiveness toward legumes and low-digestibility fiber content indicate that unbalanced paternal selection would result from individual phenotypic selection for these traits. These results demonstrate that implementation of a marker-based paternity test in timothy polycross breeding could significantly improve the selection of superior paternal parents and redress problems of parental imbalance
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