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    Understanding the variations in grazing and rumination behaviours and their associations with production parameters in individual grazing dairy cows : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Animal Science at Massey University (Manawatū) New Zealand

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    This thesis aimed to understand: 1) the accuracy of an accelerometer-based sensor to monitor grazing and rumination behaviours in dairy cows; 2) grazing and rumination behaviour patterns and time budgets over 24 hours; 3) potential factors to influence grazing and rumination behaviours; and 4) effects of grazing and rumination behaviours on production parameters. To do this, data including, but not limited to, grazing time, rumination time, measures of cow performance (e.g., milk production and composition, body weight and body condition score), days in milk, and breeding worth index of 162 grazing dairy cows were collected for three consecutive lactation seasons (2018-2021). The analysis was performed on individual study years and results were reported separately for each year. First, the accuracy of AfiCollar, an accelerometer sensor-based automated device to monitor and record grazing and rumination behaviours in dairy cows was evaluated for a grazing-based system. Spring-calved lactating cows (n = 48) wearing AfiCollar were continuously visually observed for 8 hours (9 am to 5 pm) to quantify minutes per hour spent grazing and rumination. The behaviours being observed were also recorded with the AfiCollar and compared with visual observations using Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r), concordance correlation coefficient (CCC), and linear regression. A strong association was found between the data collected by AfiCollar and the data obtained through visual observation for grazing time (r = 0.91, CCC = 0.71) and rumination time (r = 0.89, CCC = 0.80) with a significant linear relationship between both datasets (p151). A repeated measure design was performed in SAS using PROC MIXED considering the fixed effects of breed and lactation, the random effect of individual cows, and hours of the day as repeated measure to evaluate their effects on hourly patterns and time budgets of grazing, rumination, and idling behaviours. Regardless of the seasonal variations and feed consumed, cows spent most of their daytime grazing (with peaks around dawn and dusk) and most of their nighttime ruminating. Grazing and ruminating patterns were similar between cows from different breeds and lactations, however, JE cows grazed slightly longer than HFR and KC cows; and first-lactation cows grazed slightly longer than mature cows in their later lactations. The onset and cessation of grazing activity by the cows were adjusted according to varying day lengths by season. In addition, a general linear (PROC GLM) mixed model was fitted to test the effects of days in milk, breeding worth, breed, lactation year, individual cow, season, feed, and their interactions on variations in grazing time, rumination time and their relationship. Results indicated that grazing time varied among breeds in Year-2 and Year-3 and among lactation years in Year-1. Rumination time differed between breeds in only Year-3, and it remained the same within lactation years. Grazing time and rumination time varied among different seasons that were related to varying supplementary feeds. Days in milk, breeding worth (except Year-3), and the individual cow had effects (P<0.05) on grazing and rumination times. Grazing time and rumination time had a negative relationship with each other that varied between different seasons but remained the same among different breeds and lactation years. The variance in grazing and rumination times was mostly explained by individual cows (up to 24%), season (up to 12%), and feed (up to 8%). Moreover, results also showed that grazing and rumination times had positive associations with milk yield, fat, protein, and solids. Grazing time had negative and rumination time had positive associations with liveweight, while both grazing time and rumination time had negative associations with body condition score. Grazing time explained up to 1%, and rumination time explained up to 7% of the variance in milk yield, milk fat, protein, and solids. AfiCollar can reliably monitor grazing and rumination behaviours in dairy cows, however, its accuracy can be improved for a grazing-based system. The animal itself, the season, and the feed are the potential sources of variation in grazing and rumination behaviours and should be considered for management decisions to address the animal’s behavioural requirements. Grazing and rumination behaviours are moderately correlated with performance parameters and explain a small proportion of variance in animal productivity

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    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

    Variations on the Author

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    “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

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    We 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

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    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

    Author Index

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    koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist

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    We 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 Under Sail The Imagination of Jack London, 1893-1902

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    In Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Spirit Truth -- 2. From Absorption to Theatricality and Back Again -- 3. "I Will Build a New Present" -- 4. Sons as Authors -- 5. Fathers as Publishers -- 6. The Daughter as Author -- 7. Lovers as Authors -- 8. At Sea with the Family -- 9. Yellow News, Yellow Stories -- 10. The Return Home -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About Jay WilliamsIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
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