1,721,025 research outputs found
Thermobiology, energetics and activity patterns of the Eastern tube-nosed bat (<i>Nyctimene robinsoni</i>) in the Australian tropics: effect of temperature and lunar cycle
SUMMARY
Currently, there are no data on the thermal biology of free-ranging pteropodid bats (Chiroptera). Therefore, our aim was to investigate physiological and behavioural strategies employed by the fruit bat Nyctimene robinsoni (body mass ∼50 g) in winter in tropical Northern Queensland in relation to ambient temperature (Ta) and the lunar cycle. Daily body temperature (Tb) fluctuations in free-ranging bats were measured via radio-telemetry and metabolic rate was measured in captivity via open-flow respirometry (Ta, 15–30°C). Free-ranging bats showed a significant 24 h circadian cycle in Tb, with the lowest Tb at the end of the rest phase just after sunset and the highest Tb at the end of the activity phase just before sunrise. Average daily core Tb ranged from 34.7±0.6 to 37.3±0.8°C (mean ± s.d.) over an average daily Ta range of 17.1±1.1 to 23.5±1.8°C. Tb never fell below 30°C but Tb was significantly reduced during the full moon period compared with that during the new moon period. Tb was correlated with Ta during the second half of the rest phase (P&lt;0.001) but not during the active phase. Resting metabolic rate of bats was significantly affected by Ta (P&lt;0.001, R2=0.856). Our results show that tube-nosed bats exhibit reduced Tb on moonlit nights when they reduce foraging activity, but during our study torpor was not expressed. The energy constraints experienced here by tube-nosed bats with relatively moderate Ta fluctuations, short commuting distances between roosting and feeding locations, and high availability of food were probably not substantial enough to require use of torpor.</jats:p
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
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
“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
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
1080 aerial baiting for the control of wild dogs and its impact on spotted-tail quoll ('Dasyurus maculatus') populations in eastern Australia
To further investigate the non-target impact of baiting using sodium monofluoroacetate (compound 1080) to control wild dogs, a population of radio-collarared spotted-tailed quolls was subject to an experimental aerial baiting exercise. The trial was conducted at a site on the New England Tablelands, New South Wales, without a recent history of that practice. Sixteen quolls were trapped and radio-collared before baiting. Fresh meat baits were delivered from a helicopter at a rate of 10-40 baits km⁻¹. In addition to 1080 (4.2mg), each bait contained the bait marker rhodamine B (50mg), which becomes incorporated into growing hair if an animal survives bait consumption. Two quoll mortalities were recorded following aerial baiting. Both quolls died 3-5 weeks after baiting when baits, on average, retained little 1080. None of the carcasses contained traces of 1080, but the test result is less reliable for the quoll that was found 19 days after its death although tissue was well preserved because of the cool weather. Nevertheless, given that this animal died 34 days after bait delivery, it appears likely that none of the raido-collared quolls succumbed to baiting. In contrast, vibrissae samples collected from 19 quolls captured after the baiting showed that 68% had eaten baits and survived. Furthermore, multiple bait takes were common, with up to six baits consumed by one female. The results demonstrate that most, if not all, quolls survived the baiting trial, including those that consumed dog baits. Hence bait consumption figures 'per se' are not indicative of mortality rates attributable to poisoning
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
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
Evidence For An Extended Reproductive Season In The Spotted-Tailed Quoll 'Dasyurus Maculatus'
Spotted-Tailed quolls ('Dasyurus maculatus') raise only one litter with a maximum of six young per year. For quolls the breeding season starts in winter with mating usually occurring in June / July. Young are born about three weeks later (Jones et al. 2001) and available records indicate that generally young are born not later than August. Pouch young remain permanently attached to the teats for about seven weeks (Fleay 1940; Troughton 1954; Settle 1978) and have been observed between July and mid October (Jones et al. 2001; Belcher 2003; Körtner et al. 2004). In captivity, young are weaned between 120-150 days after birth and in the wild lactating females have not been observed after December (Fleay 1940; Settle 1978; Jones et al. 2001). At weaning young have reached a body mass between 300-600 g, about one third of their mother’s size (Fleay 1940; Settle 1978; Belcher 2003)
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
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
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