124,744 research outputs found

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

    Get PDF
    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

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

    Get PDF
    We 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

    Modelling individual preferences for environmental policy drivers: Empirical evidence of Italian lifestyle changes using a latent class approach

    Get PDF
    Degraded air quality severely affects the health of citizens worldwide. The design of effective policies requires exploring public preferences for environmental and air quality policy instruments. Within the EC-FP7 SEFIRA project, using a choice experiment that stresses the trade-offs between attributes, this study investigates public preferences for environmental policy drivers in Italy. The main objective is to investigate the role played by selected policy drivers in determining policy preferences, complemented by elasticity and willingness to pay estimations. Preference heterogeneity and the role of socio-economic and attitudinal variables are explored with a latent class model over 2400 respondents sampled across Italy. The results allow identifying the different role played by the policy drivers across the classes. It emerged that most of the respondents (43%) are particularly sensitive to the cost components (cost sensitive respondents). The remaining respondents instead show an important sensitivity towards personal engagement in term of changes in the mobility and eating habits (lifestyle-change sensitive respondents). However, while 29% of them perceive these habits’ changes as negatively impacting on the personal utility, the other 28% of respondents translate the potential changes in the habitual behaviour of driving and eating as environmental and health benefits. Based on the modelling results, potential policies are simulated reporting respondents’ reaction to selected scenarios. It shows the crucial role played by reduction of premature deaths due to atmospheric pollution and measure cost. ã 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-N

    Struttura produttiva territoriale ed efficienza di emissioni attraverso la NAMEA regionale

    No full text
    In questo articolo vengono esaminate le relazioni fra struttura produttiva regionale ed emissioni di gas serra utilizzando i dati NAMEA (National Accounting Matrix including Environmental Accounts) per il Lazio relativi all’anno 2000. L’obiettivo è mostrare come i dati NAMEA possano fornire una buona base per comprendere le relazioni fra economia ed emissioni, e possano quindi fornire supporto ai decisori pubblici. Sebbene ISTAT abbia prodotto conti NAMEA a livello nazionale per il 1990-2002, quella per il Lazio per il 2000 è la prima NAMEA di scala regionale prodotta in Italia. Nel lavoro è stata applicata alla NAMEA Lazio un’analisi shift share al fine di esaminare quali siano i fattori determinanti del gap dell’efficienza di emissioni atmosferiche fra Lazio e situazione media Italiana. L’analisi shift share permette di isolare forze distinte: la prima legata al mix strutturale o industriale del territorio, la seconda basata sull’efficienza specifica di emissione dei singoli settori, la terza costituita dalla covarianza dei primi due fattori. In questa versione, tra le dieci categorie di emissioni disponibili in NAMEA, vengono esaminate solo quelle di CO2, N2O e CH4

    Pragmatic Case Studies as a Source of Unity in Applied Psychology

    No full text
    To unify or not to unify applied psychology: that is the question. In this article we review pendulum swings in the historical efforts to answer this question—from a comprehensive, positivist, “top-down,” deductive yes between the 1930s and the early 60s, to a postmodern no since then. A rationale and proposal for a limited, “bottom-up,” inductive yes in applied psychology is then presented, employing a case-based paradigm that integrates both positivist and postmodern themes and components. This paradigm is labeled “pragmatic psychology” and, its specific use of case studies, the “Pragmatic Case Study Method” (“PCS Method”). We call for the creation of peer-reviewed journal-databases of pragmatic case studies as a foundational source of unifying applied knowledge in our discipline. As one example, the potential of the PCS Method for unifying different angles of theoretical regard is illustrated in an area of applied psychology, psychotherapy, via the case of Mrs. B. The article then turns to the broader historical and epistemological arguments for the unifying nature of the PCS Method in both applied and basic psychology.Peer reviewe

    Biological fluid dynamics of airborne COVID-19 infection

    Get PDF
    We review the state of knowledge on the bio-fluid dynamic mechanisms involved in the transmission of the infection from SARS-CoV-2. The relevance of the subject stems from the key role of airborne virus transmission by viral particles released by an infected person via coughing, sneezing, speaking or simply breathing. Speech droplets generated by asymptomatic disease carriers are also considered for their viral load and potential for infection. Proper understanding of the mechanics of the complex processes whereby the two-phase flow emitted by an infected individual disperses into the environment would allow us to infer from first principles the practical rules to be imposed on social distancing and on the use of facial and eye protection, which to date have been adopted on a rather empirical basis. These measures need compelling scientific validation. A deeper understanding of the relevant biological fluid dynamics would also allow us to evaluate the contrasting effects of natural or forced ventilation of environments on the transmission of contagion: the risk decreases as the viral load is diluted by mixing effects but contagion is potentially allowed to reach larger distances from the infected source. To that end, our survey supports the view that a formal assessment of a number of open problems is needed. They are outlined in the discussion.ECHOThis article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution

    Effect of dalteparin sodium administration on IVF outcome in non-thrombophilic young women: A pilot study

    No full text
    This study evaluated whether heparin administration could affect IVF outcome. A total of 172 women, aged <40 years, without laboratory findings of thrombophilia and undergoing their first IVF cycle, were randomly allocated to treatment (n = 86) and control (n = 86) groups. Patients allocated to the treatment group received low-molecular-weight heparin dalteparin sodium 2500 IU s.c. daily, in addition to routine luteal phase support, from oocyte retrieval up to the day of the pregnancy test or up to the ninth week of pregnancy in the cases of positive human chorionic gonadotrophin. From the day after the oocyte retrieval, all patients began standard supplementation with vaginal progesterone 200 mg twice a day. At the sixth week of pregnancy, patients underwent an ultrasound scan to assess the number/viability of gestational sacs. Implantation rates were 15% and 12% in the dalteparin and control groups, respectively. The clinical pregnancy rates/embryo transfers were 26% (19/73) and 20% (16/80), in the dalteparin and control groups, respectively, with live birth rates/embryo transfer of 21% (15/73) and 16% (13/80). Despite the lack of statistical significance, the increase in pregnancies observed in the treatment group may be considered as an important clinical point in the optimization of IVF clinical outcome. © 2011 ALPHA Scientists in Reproductive Medicine and the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology

    Dr. Edwin Wright Collection: Author Unknown

    Get PDF
    Notes - The author relates several short stories about his neighbours including Alex McDonell, homesteading and life around Meanook and Athabasca (1 page
    corecore