1,721,151 research outputs found
Population genetics and forensic DNA for conservation management of the Cypriot mouflon (Ovis orientalis ophion)
Full text linkThe mouflon (Ovis orientalis ophion) is the largest wild terrestrial mammal of Cyprus. Considered as the flagship species of the island, its population (c. 3000 head) has a distribution range limited to the mountainous Paphos Forest and adjacent areas including parts of Troodos National Forest (> 700 Km2). The species is protected by a rigorous national legislation supported since 1996 by management plans carried out by the Game and Fauna Service, and, together with its habitat, by the National Law 152 (I)/2003 for the Protection & Management of Wild Birds and Game Species. The species is listed in the Annexes II and IV of 92/43 Habitats Directive, in the Appendix I of CITES, and classified as “vulnerable” by the IUCN. Poaching, habitat loss, road network building and livestock intrusion (i.e., increased risk of pathogen infection) represent the main threatening factors. We aimed at elucidating the systematic placement of the Cypriot mouflon to enforce its protection within an adaptive conservation framework. Therefore, we attempted to determine its genetic structure and relationships with either historically preserved (Corsica, Sardinia) or recently introduced (central Italy) populations including also GenBank entries from the historical range of the species (Near East). The Game and Fauna Service in collaboration with the Cyprus Veterinary Service collected 63 blood samples: 53 were from mouflons captured in the Paphos forest, eight from captive individuals and two of unknown origin. We also sampled 20 mouflons in Sardinia either in the wild (16) or in captivity (4), and collected scats of both Corsican (19) and central Italy (23: Tuscan Archipelago National Park, 13; Tuscan-Emilian Apennines National Park, 6; Apuan Alps Regional Park, 4) mouflon populations in order to increase geographical scope. We genotyped each sample at the entire mitochondrial DNA Cytochrome-b codifying gene (Cyt-b, 1140 bp) and up to 12 microsatellite DNA markers (Short Tandem Repeats, STR) isolated from goat, sheep and cattle genomes. We found that the Cypriot mouflon strongly diverged from western Mediterranean conspecifics, while North West Iran appeared as the most credited geographic region as the source for its ancient introduction to Cyprus. Although we disclosed much lower mitochondrial and nuclear DNA diversity in the Cypriot than in other island populations, neither evidence of genetic bottleneck nor significant low level of both average pairwise relatedness and inbreeding coefficient was detected. Overall, present mitochondrial and STR dataset worked reliably as crime-fighting tool to tackle illegal mouflon killing in Cyprus. Between 2008 and 2013, the Police and the Game and Fauna Service, in collaboration with the Cyprus Veterinary Services, confiscated 29 samples (meat, hairs, bloodstains) dealing with nine episodes of supposed poaching against the Cypriot mouflon. In all cases, we identified the species in point by sequencing the mtDNA Cyt-b gene. In one case, we were specifically requested to establish if there was a link between three dead mouflons recovered at a roadside and 12 bloodstains collected in the car of suspected poachers at the crime scene. With reference to this case, we were able to match nine bloodstains to two out of the three carcasses (seven with very strong support: Likelihood Ratio >3000 and Random Match Probability <10-3), overall assigning 22 out of 29 samples to the Cypriot mouflon and the remaining ones to wild boar, cow, domestic goat, horse and hare. These results included the first genetic reference for the Cypriot mouflon and the first published material of forensic wildlife investigations in Cyprus
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
Spatiotemporal determinants of habitat selection in mediterranean mouflon Ovis gmelini musimon x Ovis sp.
No full textS'appuyant sur l'exemple du mouflon méditerranéen Ovis gmelini musimon × Ovis sp. et sur plusieurs échelles spatio-temporelles, nous avions pour objectifs dans cette étude de mieux comprendre comment ces animaux modulent leurs comportements dans l'espace et/ou dans le temps face à l'hétérogénéité et la dynamique de leur environnement et de leurs propres besoins. Une revue du régime alimentaire du mouflon au sein de son aire de répartition mondiale nous a permis de vérifier l'importance des graminées chez cette espèce tout en révélant l'étendue des variations de son comportement alimentaire. Proposant une approche originale pour mesurer indirectement la qualité de son habitat, nous avons aussi évalué les conséquences de la répartition hétérogène de ces ressources alimentaires sur la masse corporelle des mâles de la population du massif du Caroux-Espinouse (Hérault). C'est à partir d'un suivi par colliers GPS dans cette population que nous avons ensuite mis en évidence une sélection de l'habitat nettement divergente entre les sexes au printemps et en été. Ce processus comportemental s'organise alors en une hiérarchie de décisions. Les choix des femelles sont d'abord largement dictés par les conditions qui devraient assurer la survie de leur progéniture, tandis que les mâles se concentrent sur les habitats offrant les meilleures conditions d'alimentation et une bonne protection thermique en été. A fine échelle, nos travaux montrent de nettes modulations de ces choix et des relations fortes entre comportements spatiaux et temporels chez ce ruminant, lui permettant de faire face au compromis nourriture/couverture. Nous nous sommes aussi intéressés de près à l'influence des activités humaines sur le comportement de cette espèce. Nous montrons que la chasse a des conséquences plus importantes que le tourisme, avec des réponses durant les périodes risquées mais aussi quand le risque est moindre à l'échelle journalière, et des effets y compris dans un espace protégé. Dans un contexte de changements globaux et de pressions anthropiques accrues, la mise en évidence de l'influence de l'hétérogénéité de l'habitat, du climat, des activités humaines et de leurs dynamiques respectives sur le comportement d'un grand herbivore devrait aider à mieux cerner les relations entre ces espèces et leurs habitats et à améliorer leur gestion.Using Mediterranean mouflon Ovis gmelini musimon × Ovis sp. as a case study and based on several spatio-temporal scales, we aimed at better understanding how animals' choices change in space and/or time according to environmental heterogeneity and dynamics, and to own needs. A review on mouflon's diet across its range at the world level allowed us to confirm the importance of grass for this species, but also to reveal the wide variation in its foraging behaviour. Using an original approach allowing an indirect measure of habitat quality, we also evaluated the consequences of the heterogeneous distribution of foraging resources on the body mass of rams from the population of the Caroux-Espinouse massif (southern France). Based on data from a GPS monitoring in this population, we revealed sex-specific habitat selection during spring and summer. This behavioural process results from a hierarchy of decisions. Females' choices are mostly driven by the conditions that should ensure lamb survival, whereas males select the habitats providing the best foraging conditions and high thermal cover during summer. At fine scale, choices concurrently varied in space and time allowing this ruminant to cope with the food/cover trade-off. We also focused on the influence of human activities on the behaviour of this species. We showed that hunting had more marked consequences than tourism, with responses during both high and low-risk periods at the daily scale, and a spill-over effect in a protected area. In a context of global changes and increasing human pressures, revealing the influence of habitat heterogeneity, climate, human activities and of their relative dynamics on the behaviour of a large herbivore may help to better grasp the relationships between these species and their habitats and to improve their management
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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