1,721,003 research outputs found
First video documented presence of Mediterranean monk seal in Southern Apulia (Italy)
Full text linkSightings of Endangered monk seal (Monachus monachus) specimens have been increasingly reported along the
coasts of its historic Mediterranean distribution over the last two decades, even from countries where the species
was considered extinct for about half a century. These encounters have been documented and verified particularly
along the coasts of the Adriatic-Ionian basin. The activities carried out in Salento (Southern Apulia, Italy) since 2012,
engaging with local protected areas, authorities and different stakeholders (organizations, museums, universities,
fishermen’s cooperatives and tourism sectors enterprises) allowed us to record and verify 10 monk seal sightings (from
2009 to 2014) in the area. However, the last sighting with photographic documentation dates back to 1973. In June
2017, after six years of monitoring and awareness of the territory, immediately after the sighting, we received a video
evidence of such presence. The footage, and the resulting interview with the witnesses, documented the presence of a
Mediterranean monk seal’s specimen, about 2 meters in length, along the coast of Tricase (Lecce, Apulia). This new event
has a remarkable importance to the hypothesis that Salento and the Adriatic-Ionian basin might play an important role
in the overall conservation of the specie
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe 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 linkWe 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
Full text linkWe 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
A sea of fireworms? New insights on ecology and seasonal density of Hermodice carunculata (Pallas, 1766) (Annelida) in the Ionian Sea (SE Italy)
No full textQuantitative studies on population dynamics and life history traits of key species are useful to predict changes in the structure and organization of biological communities. In this context, Hermodice carunculata (Pallas, 1766) is a selective scavenger/carnivore polychaete species (known as a fireworm) that, in recent years, has exhibited a northern expansion along the whole basin, including the Italian coasts, and an increasing abundance in its southern areas. Here we report ecological data and fireworm abundances from two shallow stations of the Salento peninsula in the Ionian Sea (Lecce, Italy), characterized by different hydrodynamic exposure levels and structural communities. The observed densities by visual census in the years 2019–2021 (up to 18 ind./15 m2) document a striking shift compared to the past anecdotal reports of the rare occurrence of fireworms along the studied area. Additionally, their abundance seems to be driven by the substrate coverage; in fact, a higher density of fireworms was observed where the biodiversity is richer. Results from this study will serve as a baseline reference for future investigation of the invasiveness potential of a species that can act as a biological marker of ocean warming
Development and catch efficiency of an attracting device to collect and monitor the invasive fireworm Hermodice carunculata in the Mediterranean Sea
Full text linkThe fireworm Hermodice carunculata (Annelida) is emerging as a native invader and a neonative species in the Central Mediterranean basins. Its ongoing areal expansion has probably been triggered and pursued by the climate alterations which are affecting the Mediterranean environments and biota. However, increased H. carunculata abundance and distribution may be miscalculated and underestimated due to the lack of effective tools for collection and monitoring. Indeed, fireworms spend most of the daytime in crevices and holes, making it impossible to obtain reliable data in underwater surveys. In this study, traps were developed to provide suitable shelter and food to fireworms, and their effectiveness and specificity were assessed by testing different immersion times, environmental conditions and types of bait. Pierced plastic baskets adapted for fireworm capture proved to be extremely easy to set up, reproducible, cheap, and highly specific. The devices were used at 11 sites located along the Ionian Apulian coast (Italy). They proved to be suitable and effective: more than 90% of the traps baited with raw fish succeeded in capturing H. carunculata specimens, with an average of 8-9 fireworms captured per trap. The traps were deployed at a depth range of 1.5-9 m with immersion times of up to 4 h, and even large sized fireworms (> 32 cm in length) were caught. These attracting devices could be successful in different forthcoming challenges, allowing the collection of a great number of fireworms to investigate their impact on rocky bottom communities, distribution, and potential for bioprospecting. Besides, the cheapness and ease of use of the traps also make them suitable for Citizen Science studies and sampling campaigns aiming at characterizing the expanding populations. Future applications will be critical to improve deployment success and test user friendliness
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
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