1,721,274 research outputs found
Chlorinated organophosphate flame retardants in childcare articles
No full textCl-OPFRs are chlorinated organophosphate flame retardants that are added to materials to help meet fire safety regulations. Mostly used Cl-OPFRs are tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCIPP), tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP), and tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP). Concentrations of Cl-OPFRs were measured in waste childcare articles from the Republic of Ireland (n=108) in 2019- 2020 and from Birmingham, UK (n=89) in 2022. Cl-OPFRs are carcinogenic and have adverse effects on children, so the European Union has proposed banning their use in childcare products. Our results show that out of the 108 Irish samples examined, one sample exceeded 1,000 mg/kg for TCEP, while 11 and 8 samples exceeded those concentrations for TDCIPP and TCIPP, respectively. TCIPP detected in 98% of samples (max: 44,000 mg/kg), while TDCIPP and TCEP were detected in 73% (max: 68,000 mg/kg) and 58% of samples (max: 1,600 mg/kg), respectively. Meanwhile, out of 89 UK samples, 3 and 10 samples exceeded 1,000 mg/kg for TDCIPP and TCIPP, respectively. TCIPP detected in 92% of samples (max: 10,000 mg/kg), while TDCIPP and TCEP were found in 24% (max: 49,000 mg/kg) and 45% (max: 4 mg/kg) of samples, respectively. Our findings raise concerns regarding children's exposure to Cl-OPFRs when they are used, besides their waste management implications
A meta-analysis of recent data on UK environmental levels of POP-BFRs in an international context: Temporal trends and an environmental budget
Full text linkAbstractThis study collates and synthesises UK data on environmental levels of POP-BFRs published between 1999 and March 2015. Target POP-BFRs are: the polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) formulations Penta-BDE, Octa-BDE, and Deca-BDE (the latter as a candidate Stockholm Convention POP), as well as hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD). Environmental compartments covered include: sediments (freshwater and marine), atmospheric deposition (both measured directly and inferred from sediment core data), soil, herbage, outdoor air, indoor air, indoor dust, freshwater (rivers and lakes), human tissues (blood serum and milk), wildlife, and the human diet. Temporal trends in contamination were examined for evidence of environmental responses to regulatory and voluntary actions banning/restricting the manufacture and use of POP-BFRs. Good evidence exists that – with some exceptions – concentrations of Penta-BDE congeners like BDEs-47 and 99 have responded well to the use restrictions introduced in the mid-2000s. However, it appears that human body burdens of these contaminants do not appear to have responded in a similar way, as levels in UK human milk in 2010–2012, are not discernibly different to those reported in 2002–03. The evidence for HBCDD and BDEs-183 and 209 is less abundant, but signs exist that absolute concentrations of BDE-183 are falling in the UK environment. With respect to BDE-209, evidence from analysis of lake sediment core and UK diet samples, suggests that levels have yet to respond discernibly to the more recent curbs on manufacture and use of Deca-BDE. The limited evidence for HBCDD is strongly consistent with a declining trend in environmental contamination with this chemical. Broadly, examination of the UK database in an international context, suggests UK levels are generally within the range of those found in other industrialised countries. Interestingly, while UK concentrations of BDE-209 in abiotic matrices such as indoor dust, are at the high end of those reported globally; concentrations in UK human milk are amongst the lowest reported to date. This suggests that the bioavailability of BDE-209 from indoor dust is likely very low. An environmental budget was estimated for the UK burden of POP-BFRs. As with previous comparable exercises for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and chlorinated dioxins, the majority (>90%) of the UK burden of POP-BFRs resides in soil. Moreover, the POP-BFR burden identifiable as present in the UK environment is much lower than data on production and use of POP-BFRs in Europe. This may be explained by POP-BFRs: (a) undergoing environmental transport away from the UK; (b) undergoing environmental degradation; (c) remaining in use; and (d) entering the waste stream. While the UK database appears relatively strong for some environmental compartments and POP-BFRs – e.g. BDEs-47 and -99 are well-characterised in the human diet, indoor air/dust, and human milk – substantial gaps exist for BDE-209 and HBCDD in air (indoor and outdoor), herbage, and soil
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
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
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