1,720,958 research outputs found
Public perception of green infrastructure’s role in urban air quality
No full textUrban green infrastructure (GI) is recognised for enhancing environmental quality and wellbeing, yet public perceptions of its air quality benefits remain underexplored. This study investigates how residents across two contrasting urban contexts (Bedford and Milton Keynes) view these benefits, and how socio-demographics, proximity, and use frequency shape perceptions. A semi-structured survey of 51 participants combined closed- and open-ended questions. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, chi-square, and thematic coding identified key patterns. Findings show strong agreement (90.2%) that green spaces improve air quality, supported by a reliable attitudinal scale (Cronbach’s α = 0.771). Mature, evergreen, and mixed vegetation were rated higher than single-species or newly planted areas, indicating preference for diverse, stable planting. Visit frequency strongly correlated with belief in benefits (p < 0.001), and proximity influenced visitation (p = 0.02). Socioeconomic differences appeared: lower- and middle-income groups relied more on public green spaces, while some higher-income respondents were more sceptical. Despite concern over pollution, awareness and use of air quality indices were limited, with reliance on sensory cues. The study highlights the importance of context-sensitive, equitable, and communicatively effective GI planning to maximise ecological and social benefits.MSc in Environmental Engineerin
Agent-based modelling of crop management
Get PDFWaine, Toby W. - Associate Supervisor
Metcalfe, Helen - Associate Supervisor
Alonso-Chavez, Vasthi - Associate SupervisorThis study aims to explore the benefits of integrating Agent-Based Models
(ABMs) of farmer behaviour with biophysical models to describe and understand
the complex agroecological systems that influence decision-making in arid and
semi-arid regions. Through a mixed-methods approach combining surveys,
interviews, and ABM, the research provides insights into the complex dynamics
shaping farmer behaviour and evaluates the potential impacts of various
management strategies on agricultural sustainability. Initial online surveys across
diverse agro-climatic zones in Morocco revealed that farmer decisions are
influenced by environmental pressures, crop characteristics, and water
availability. Follow-up in-depth interviews in the Al Haouz Basin highlighted
institutional barriers like land tenure insecurity and bureaucratic processes as key
constraints to adopting sustainable practices. The study integrates empirical data
with Structural Equation Modelling and the Theory of Planned Behaviour to
parameterize an ABM. This coupled behavioural-biophysical simulation captures
feedback loops between environmental conditions and human decisions. Model
simulations revealed potential unintended consequences of policies aimed at
increasing productivity, such as increased soil salinization and land abandonment
resulting from expanded groundwater access. Key contributions include
advancing the understanding of temporal adaptation dynamics in agricultural
systems under climate change and developing a novel methodological framework
integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches for studying complex socio-
ecological systems. By bridging social and natural sciences, this research
establishes a comprehensive framework for addressing agricultural sustainability
challenges in water-scarce regions.PhD in Environment and Agrifoo
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
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
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
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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