1,721,212 research outputs found
Digitalizzare il mare nella poesia di Jorie Graham, Laura Accerboni e Marwa Helal
Full text linkWithin the frame of Posthuman Studies, blue humanities emphasize the role of under-water perspectives in literary criticism. Here the strategy is applied to different poems by Jorie Graham, Laura Accerboni and Marwa Helal, in order to establish the sea as a major allegory of the Digital Era in terms of hardware, network and user-generated content.In ambito post-umanistico, le blue humanities hanno enfatizzato il valore di prospettive subacquee nell’analisi letteraria. L’approccio viene qui applicato alla poesia di Jorie Graham, Laura Accerboni e Marwa Helal, proponendo di riconsiderare il mare come un’allegoria dell’era digitale sotto forma di hardware, network e user-generated conten
laurajanegraham/recreation_scaling: People and Nature code and data
No full textThis is the version of the code and data underlying Graham &amp; Eigenbrod (in press) Scale-dependency in drivers of outdoor recreation in England.</span
The effects of elevated carbon dioxide concentration on leaf growth and development in Populus
No full textThe composition of the Earth’s atmosphere is changing. Such changes can largely beattributed either directly or indirectly to anthropogenic activities. However, the effectsthat these changes will have on terrestrial vegetation in the future, represents an areaof great uncertainty. The results that have been published in the literature havegenerally concluded that elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration ([eCO2])causes increased above- and below-ground biomass compared to ambient conditions.Members of the Populus genus have risen to the forefront of plant research into theeffects of [eCO2]. Members of the genus are extremely fast-growing, making themsuitable candidates for use as biomass energy crops. The Populus trichocarpasequence was released in 2006, hence unveiling a huge genetic resource to the plantscience community.Although a large amount of studies to date have been dedicated to the effects of[eCO2] on plant growth, few have focussed on the underlying genetic basis of thechanges. However, thanks to the genetic resources that are now freely available, thishas now been addressed. In the series of experiments presented in this thesis acombination of morphological measurements, gene expression and protein studieswere used to assess the effects of [eCO2] on Populus leaves.The results of the studies presented here have shown that there were somedifferences in various aspects of plant growth as a result of [eCO2], although themagnitude of the response was lower than has been reported previously in theliterature. However, there were rather few changes in transcript expression (asassessed by microarrays) due to [eCO2]. This conclusion was reproducible acrossdifferent microarray platforms. This result was further confirmed by a proteomicsexperiment, which showed that there were no proteins whose abundance differedsignificantly between ambient and elevated [CO2].It is possible that [eCO2] causes an additive effect on gene expression and hence thesensitivity of the techniques was such that these differences could not be identified.However, it may be possible that the plants demonstrate a plastic response to [eCO2]and that the techniques used to assess the response were inappropriate in this case. Insuch an instance, more targeted studies on particular biosynthetic pathways of interest(such as cell wall biosynthesis) may be more appropriate for any future trials
Teasing apart fine- and coarse-scale effects of environmental heterogeneity on tree species richness in Europe
Full text linkThe environmental heterogeneity–biodiversity relationship is generally hypothesised to be positive, with greater heterogeneity leading to greater biodiversity. However, the generality of positive environmental heterogeneity–species richness relationships is often debated, with some studies finding non-significant or even negative relationships. Negative relationships have primarily been found at fine spatial scales. Both negative and positive relationships have a basis in ecological theory. Environmental heterogeneity at coarse scales opens up niche space to allow more species to coexist; whereas high local heterogeneity, for instance in topography, may lead to increased local extinction due to micro-fragmentation, or dominance of species suited to heterogeneous conditions. However, it is difficult to attribute how much of the variance is explained at different scales within the same modelling framework.Here, we use a new data-aggregation method which enables us to include both fine- and coarse-scale environmental heterogeneity within the same analysis. Using this method, we were able to tease apart the fine- and coarse-grain effects of topographic heterogeneity on European tree species richness. At the coarse scale (0.5 degrees), we found a positive effect of range in elevation on tree species richness. However, when measuring range in elevation using a fine-scale moving window of radius 500 m, we found a negative relationship with tree species richness. This supports existing research that has shown negative relationships between environmental heterogeneity and species richness at finer spatial grains. Because we were able to include a measure of both local and landscape-scale topographic heterogeneity in the same model, for the first time we could fully capture the effects of both scales on coarse-grain species richness while accounting for the effect of the other scale
Scale-dependency in drivers of outdoor recreation in England
No full text1. Managing landscapes for multiple, sometimes conflicting, objectives requires an understanding of the trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services (ES). These trade-offs and synergies are often the result of drivers acting at different scales. Therefore, in order to understand trade-offs and synergies it is important that we understand the scale dependency in drivers of ES.2. Here, we examine scale dependencies in the drivers of outdoor recreation in England to better understand trade-offs between different aspects of this ES. We focus on outdoor recreation because it is culturally and economically important; it is the result of a range of social and biophysical attributes which vary at different scales; and proxies that are independent of these drivers exist. 3. First, we tested the hypothesis that a social media based proxy (photographs from Flickr) represents ‘destination’ recreation (e.g. day trips and overnight visits). We did so by comparing to a survey based proxy, which is known to represent ‘day-to-day’ recreation (e.g. dog walking, visiting local parks). Second, we examined the scale dependencies in the social and biophysical drivers of both types of outdoor recreation. 4. Flickr data were best explained by variables capturing supply of recreation; whereas the survey data were best explained by variables capturing demand for recreation. This confirms our hypothesis that Flickr data measure ‘destination’ recreation given that the survey data measure ‘day-to-day’ recreation. In both cases, the importance of demand variables increased with increasing spatial resolution. 5. Understanding what a proxy measures provides us with information about how to use it. We conclude that Flickr data may be useful to plan at broad scales, but that to plan for equitable day-to-day recreation, specially designed survey data may be more appropriate. Estimating the scale dependencies in drivers of outdoor recreation gets us a step closer to a mechanistic understanding of the social-ecological system. <br/
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
Book Review: In search of safety: Chemicals and cancer risk, by John D. Graham, Laura C. Green, and Marc J. Roberts
No full textJohn D. Graham, Laura C. Green, and Marc J. Roberts examine the scientific policy conflicts in regulating potentially carcinogenic chemicals. Using detailed case studies of formaldehyde and benzene, they probe the scientific data regarding carcinogenicity and the dose-response relationship, and then describe the history of regulatory action. Both chemicals have precipitated major battles among scientists, have involved at least two regulatory agencies, and have spawned important litigation.</p
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