1,720,968 research outputs found
Effect of silver nanoparticles on marine organisms belonging to different trophic levels
No full textSilver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) are increasingly used in a wide range of consumer products and such an extensive use raises questions about their safety and environmental toxicity. We investigated the potential toxicity of Ag-NPs in the marine ecosystem by analyzing the effects on several organisms belonging to different trophic levels. Algae (Dunaliella tertiolecta, Skeletonema costatum), cnidaria (Aurelia aurita jellyfish), crustaceans (Amphibalanus amphitrite and Artemia salina) and echinoderms (Paracentrotus lividus) were exposed to Ag-NPs and different end-points were evaluated: algal growth, ephyra jellyfish immobilization and frequency of pulsations, crustaceans mortality and swimming behavior, and sea urchin sperm motility. Results showed that all the end-points were able to underline a dose-dependent effect. Jellyfish were the most sensitive species, followed by barnacles, sea urchins, green algae, diatoms and brine shrimps. In conclusion, Ag-NPs exposure can influence different trophic levels within the marine ecosystem
The sperm motility pattern in ecotoxicological tests. The CRYO-Ecotest as a case study
No full textChanges in environmental stressors inevitably lead to an increasing need for innovative and more flexible monitoring tools. The aim of this work has been the characterization of the motility pattern of the cryopreserved sea bream semen after exposure to a dumpsite leachate sample, for the identification of the best representative parameters to be used as endpoints in an ecotoxicological bioassay.Sperm motility has been evaluated either by visual and by computer-assisted analysis; parameters concerning motility on activation and those describing it in the times after activation (duration parameters) have been assessed, discerning them in terms of sensitivity, reliability and methodology of assessment by means of multivariate analyses. The EC50 values of the evaluated endpoints ranged between 2.3 and 4.5 ml/L, except for the total motile percentage (aTM, 7.0 ml/L), which proved to be the less sensitive among all the tested parameters. According to the multivariate analyses, a difference in sensitivity among "activation" endpoints in respect of "duration" ones can be inferred; on the contrary, endpoints seem to be equally informative either describing total motile sperm or the rapid sub-population, as well as the assessment methodology seems to be not discriminating. In conclusion, the CRYO-Ecotest is a multi-endpoint bioassay that can be considered a promising innovative ecotoxicological tool, characterized by a high plasticity, as its endpoints can be easy tailored each time according to the different needs of the environmental quality assessment programs. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
Benthic vegetation, chlorophyllα and physical-chemical variables in a protected zone of a Mediterranean coastal lagoon (Lesina, Italy)
Full text linkPhytoplankton and benthic vegetation biomass undergoes spatial-temporal changes in relation to their life cycle, but also to meteorological conditions, physical-chemical variables, organic input and internal dynamism. The main aim of this work was to observe the effect of all environmental variables on the vegetative dynamic process in a protected zone of a Mediterranean costal lagoon (Lesina lagoon, SE Italy). Seven samplings were performed from 2010 to 2012 at 30 sites for nutrient and chlorophyll analyses, while TOC measurements and wet biomass evaluation were performed at 10 sites. Temperature, salinity and oxygen saturation were also measured by multiparametric probe and a visual census for vegetation was performed. Sites close to freshwater inflow were characterized by lower temperature and salinity, and high nitrate, with maxima of 191.05 μM in May 2010 and more than 250 μM in October 2010. Silicates drastically decreased from May 2010 (87.57 μM) to July 2010 (6.15 μM) and increased again in October (74.99 μM). Chl a concentrations were not on average higher than 6 mg m−3, but peaks of 20 mg m−3 were observed during May 2011 and May 2012. Benthic vegetation wet biomass collected in 2010 was approximately twice that collected in 2012, with a maximum of 27,554 g m−2 and a dominance of macroalgae (70 % in May 2010 and 40 % in August 2010). During period 2010, a simultaneous and drastic decreasing of both mean values of wet biomass and chl a was observed from May to October 2010. During period 2012 a shift of vegetation biomass was shown from May (phytoplankton prevalence) to August 2012, with angiosperm prevalence (more than 30 %)
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
Dynamics of phytoplankton guilds under dystrophic pressures in Lesina lagoon
Full text linkWe analyzed the dynamic of phytoplankton guild during an dystrophic crisis observed in an area of Lesina Lagoon from July to September 2008. A two-weekly scale, patterns of variation of phytoplankton biomass (as Chla), numerical abundance, species richness, diversity, taxonomic and size structure were compared in two stations: one within the area affected by the crisis (AT2 station) and one outside, as control (AT3 station). Phytoplankton biomass and cell abundance varied significantly between sampling stations and sampling times. Biomass was on average about 100 time higher in AT2 than AT3 station, with peaks of 180,67±22,12 mgChla/m3 (8 July) and 134,05±47,26 mgChla/m3 (5, September). Cell density was on average about 30 times higher in AT2 station, with values always higher than 20*106 cell/l. Species richness and diversity did not varied significantly between stations and not show a trend with the evolution of anoxic crisis. The taxonomic composition is similar in the two stations (taxonomic similarity among stations was 76,04%), even if the relative abundance of species was significantly different. As regard size structure, in the AT2 station, microphytoplankton dominates at beginning of biomass bloom (dominant taxa: Thalassiosiraceae, average weight (AW) 163,51 pgC), whereas from the end of July until September and in the AT3 station, nanophytoplankton was the dominant fraction (dominant taxa: until the middle of August: Algae indet AW 3,14 pgC and Navicula sp. AW 2,50 pgC)
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
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