1,720,991 research outputs found
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
The diversity of Italian forests: a interactive product of biogeography and ecology.
No full textBackground: Italian forests contains a high total diversity of plants species and
this is likely due to the huge biogeographical gradients covered by the country
(from the Alps to the Mediterranean) as well as to the long lasting human exploitation
and management practices.
This study aims to investigate the interactive effects of ecology and biogeography
in determining the total plant diversity of Italian forests using a spatially
representative sample of forests made of 201 plots sampled all over the country
(CONECOFOR LI network).
The general hypothesis to be tested is that the effects of present day ecological
factors are less important than biogeographical factors in determining the total
diversity of forested areas.
The plant diversity of the sampled forest plan communities was divided into different
spatial components, in particular: plot, site, forest type (used as a proxy for
present day ecological conditions) and biogeographical region. Species presence\
absence was only used. The three following hypotheses have then been tested:
Hypothesis 1: The diversity component accounted by the biogeographical region
is higher that the diversity accounted by the lower scale components (plot, site,
forest type).
Hypothesis 2: Distance decay rate across biogeographical regions is higher than
distance decay rate within biogeographical regions (after correction for extent).
Hypothesis 3: Beta nestedness is higher within than across biogeographical
regions (after correction for extent); on the other hand Beta complementarity is
lower within than across biogeographical regions (after correction for extent).
Results encouraged to enlarge the study in order to consider a wider range of
forest types and bigeographical features in determining the forest plant diversity patterns
Validation of a priori forest type classifications to predict floristic composition.
No full textForest type classifications based on field or satellite data collection have been used
to identify conservation priorities, and thereby support decision-making, zoning
and conservation planning. For these reasons, the capacity of different methods of
forest classification to predict floristic composition is a crucial topic and needs to
be examined.
Here, three predictions are tested, considering how floristic composition is consistent
with different forest type classifications: (1) forest type classifications are
valid for floristic inferences (2) biogeography-based forest types perform better
than stand structure-based forest types; (3) the efficiency in predicting floristic
composition is depending on which factors affect floristic patterns: biogeographic
or anthropogenic drivers.
Species presence-absence of all vascular plants, sampled in the Italian Network
Level I (CONECOFOR), are analysed to determine the best floristic classification
using cluster analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling. Analyses of similarity
are used to test for differences between the National Inventory of Forests
and Carbon (INFC), the European Forest Type Categories (EFTC) and the Corine
Land Cover 2006, and factors affecting floristic patterns are tested
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
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
Spatial and temporal patterns of plant diversity in the Italian forest monitoring network (CONECOFOR)
Full text linkSince 1996, the Italian network CONECOFOR included Ground Vegetation (GV) within the
forest monitoring actions, in the frame of ICP Forests. Plant diversity variables have been
assessed yearly on 11 of the 31 sites of the intensive network (LII), while a unique survey
was realized for the extensive network (LI) in 2007, within the Biosoil-Biodiversity project.
CONECOFOR is presently undergoing a revision process aimed to assure the financial
sustainability of reliable information on forest status and trends (SMART4Action, LIFE+ ENV
project).
We contribute to the project by analysing spatial and temporal patterns options for GV
assessment.
(i) Aims: suggest an affordable number of sites and the best sampling strategy to provide an
overview of forest plant diversity within both LII and LI network.
(ii) Objectives: estimate the effect of reduced sampling frequency and size, as well as
different sampling designs on GV assessment.
(iii) Methods: previous datasets are examined to test the conformity of LII vs. LI sites, to
compare time-trend descriptors, and to estimate the critical number of sites and sampling
units (SU). Field cross-surveys in next summer will compare different methods on selected
sites.
(iv) Considering LII sites (1999-2102), the reduction from annual to multiple-year surveys
provides incomparable regression functions. The effect of reducing SUs numbers within LII
sites is variable, due to different understory heterogeneity, and arousing misleading plant
diversity description. LII hardly represents the spatial distribution achieved by LI reference (in
2007), due to the “preferential” selection used in the former network. A relevant reduction of
LI sites can be achieved (almost 50%) maintaining the representativeness of plant species
richness; relevant thresholds have been provided considering the stratification by
Biogeographic Regions and the most relevant Forest types (Alpine conifers, Mountinous
Beech, and Thermophilous deciduous forests).
The experimental design of the comparative field test will be presented
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