1,721,125 research outputs found

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

    Full text link
    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

    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 link
    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

    Modeling and Optimization of a Solar Energy Harvester System for Self-Powered Wireless Sensor Networks

    No full text
    In this paper, we propose a methodology for optimizing a solar harvester with maximum power point tracking for self-powered wireless sensor network (WSN) nodes. We focus on maximizing the harvester's efficiency in transferring energy from the solar panel to the energy storing device. A photovoltaic panel analytical model, based on a simplified parameter extraction procedure, is adopted. This model predicts the instantaneous power collected by the panel helping the harvester design and optimization procedure. Moreover, a detailed modeling of the harvester is proposed to understand basic harvester behavior and optimize the circuit. Experimental results based on the presented design guidelines demonstrate the effectiveness of the adopted methodology. This design procedure helps in boosting efficiency, allowing to reach a maximum efficiency of 85% with discrete components. The application field of this circuit is not limited to self-powered WSN nodes; it can easily be extended in embedded portable applications to extend the battery life

    Modulation by sex steroids of brain opioid receptors: implications for the control of gonadotropins and prolactin secretion

    No full text
    Several experiments have been performed in order to analyze whether physiological or experimental changes of the endocrine environment might modify the binding characteristics of brain mu and kappa opioid receptors in the brain of the female and male rat. (a) In a first series of experiments, it has been observed that in the whole brain of regularly cycling female rats the number of mu receptors shows variations during the different phases of the estrous cycle. In particular a significant increase of the number of mu receptors has been observed in the morning of proestrus and in the afternoon of estrus. (b) In a second series of experiments, it has been shown that the administration of estrogens brings about a significant increase in the number of mu receptors in the hippocampus and in the thalamus of ovariectomized rats, while the administration of a regime including estrogen and progesterone induces a significant decrease of the number of mu receptors in the hypothalamus and in the corpus striatum. These data seem to indicate that hypothalamic mu receptors may be involved in the positive but not in the negative feedback control of LH secretion. (c) In a third series of experiments, it has been found that the number of mu receptors in the whole brain of 15- and 22-month-old male rats and in the hypothalamus of 22-month-old male rats is significantly lower than in the same tissues of young animals; moreover, the administration to old animals of testosterone does not modify the number of hypothalamic mu opioid receptors, indicating that the decline of brain mu receptors in old animals is not the consequence of the physiological decline of testosterone secretion but probably represents an autonomous phenomenon, (d) In a fourth series of experiments, it was shown that, in young male rats, the concentration of kappa receptors is extremely variable in different regions of the brain. The highest concentrations have been found in the hypothalamus and in the striatum; also in the mesencephalon and in the amygdala kappa receptors are present in rather elevated quantities; lower concentations have been found in the thalamus, the frontal poles, the hippocampus and in the anterior and posterior cerebral cortex. These experiments have shown in addition that the process of aging induces an increase of the number of kappa receptors in the amygdala and in the thalamus; no age-linked modifications were observed in the other structures examined, (e) Finally, it has been observed that the ontogenesis of hypothalamic mu opioid receptors is different in male and in female rats: the number of mu receptors is identical in animals of the two sexes at 16 days of age; in females, but not in males, the number of mu receptors increases significantly between day 16 and day 26 of life; this sexual difference persists in 60-day-old animals, when the brain is fully mature. It has also been observed that at 60 days of age the number of hypothalamic mu receptors increases significantly in neonatally castrated males, in which it reaches the levels found in normal females. Apparently, the presence of androgens in the neonatal period blocks the development of hypothalamic mu receptors towards a female pattern
    corecore