1,720,982 research outputs found
Evaluating risk preferences in captive ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta): a research study
No full textThe risk-sensitive foraging theory hypothesizes that animals on a positive energy budget should be risk-averse, whereas animals on a negative energy budget should be risk-prone. Species living in a stable environment with consistent food sources are thus predicted to be risk-averse, whereas when resources are not sufficient to satisfy energetic requirements risk-aversion should decrease to enhance chance of survival. Numerous studies have evaluated risk tolerance in monkeys and apes, but only a few have been conducted on prosimians. The present project investigates risk preferences in ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) , a prosimian species adapted to stressful and energetically scarce habitats. Our project aims to analyse lemurs’ risk preferences in different conditions and to evaluate if they are able to flexibly modify their attitudes toward risk as the probability to obtain the larger reward changes. Preliminary trials were carried out to determine lemurs’ quantity discrimination skills, before evaluating their risk preferences in experimental trials. The study is performed in accordance with the European Directive 2010/63/E
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
A YEAR AS AN ELEPHANT: MONITORING T'WO ZOO-HOUSED ASIAN ELEPHANTS ACROSS SEASONS
No full textAnimal welfare can vary over an individuars lifespan and can differ between individuals of the same group. Long-term data collection carried out integrating various welfare parameters play a key role in assessing the quality of life ofzoo-housed species. This project aimed to monitor the welfare status of the Asian elephants hosted at Pistoia Zoo across seasons through the analysis of ethological and physiological animal-based measures. The study involved two adult females of 47 and 46 years of age that were observed over a 6-month period from August 2015 to June 2016 using a within-subject randomised exrxrimental design. Behaviours were video-recorded, and data were collected via continuous focal animal sampling method. Six 5-min focal observation sessions per subject per day were conducted and on an average 102 hours of observation per individual were ohtained. Moreover 223 fresh faecal samples were collected to measure the concentration of faecal cortisol using the Radio Immuno Assay techniquc based on binding of3H-stcroid by competitive adsorption. Data were analysed using nonparametric and randomization tests and the Behavioural Competence Index. Results showed that the elephants dedicated more time to active behaviours and less time to locomotion and stereotypic swaying and pacing compared to previous studies performed on individuals hosted in Other European zoos. Differences in the expression Of locomotor, self-directed, feeding, stereotypic and rcsting behaviour betwcen subjects and across seasons were also found. The subjects showed a high level of behavioural competence even if they displayed stereotyped behaviours. The analysis of faecal samples pointed out that the cortisol concentration was stable across seasons and no significant difference was found between subjects
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
- …
