1,720,958 research outputs found
Viral Indicators of Hygienic-Sanitary Quality: Detection of Somatic Coliphages in the Southern Adriatic Sea.
No full textDynamics of microbial autochthon populations and human impact on the harbour of Otranto (Lecce, Italy)
No full textThe purpose of our investigation was to assess the water quality around the harbour of Otranto (Lecce, Italy) through an approach that integrates the determination of the classic parameters within traditional microbiological monitoring (the faecal contamination indexes - total coliforms, faecal coliforms, and faecal streptococcus) with the study of autochthon microbiological populations dynamics (hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria and bioluminescent bacteria). The analysis of our data shows that the faecal contamination indexes have values below the limits fixed by the 76/160/EEC directive for the bathing waters, marking the good microbiological quality of these waters. The density of the hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria has been shown to be much higher in the areas designated for the ships' berthing and for the transit of the crafts; therefore, this parameter has shown itself to be useful in the assessment of hydrocarbon contamination in harbour areas. The bioluminescent component of the epibacteria community was set as a marker for the biological quality of the seawater: the relative abundance of the bioluminescent bacteria in the impacted sites is below 5%
Widespread microbiological groundwater contamination in the South-eastern Salento (Puglia-Italy)
No full textIn the Salento peninsula (Puglia Region, South-East Italy), underground waters are a fundamental resource for the population because they constitute the principal reservoir for drinking water and irrigation. They are, however, affected by overexploitation. The risk factors in the Salento arise mainly from anthropic activities, especially tourism and agriculture (leaking wells, sewage and inadequate waste disposal procedures). The Southern Salento is recognized to be at high risk of pathologies characterised by oral-faecal transmission. From 2001 to 2009 the incidence of typhoid fever in the Salento was 12.11/100000 inhabitants as against 2.91 in Italy. Enteritis caused by rotaviruses is an important cause of hospitalization of paediatric-aged children in the Salento, with high social costs. An effective monitoring system for the conservation and management of water bodies and the protection of public health is therefore fundamental. The present study sought to determine the microbiological and chemical-physical quality of groundwater in the Salento and to analyse the factors associated with contamination. The results indicated widespread pollution from salt and microbial contamination. Contamination from faecal microorganisms posed a significant risk of human infection in 100% of samples. Furthermore, the water was unsuitable even for irrigation in a high percentage of cases (31.8%), which is of considerable significance given that agriculture is one of the most important economic activities in the area under study. The high salt concentration was probably due to excessive extraction of water for intensive irrigation, especially in summer. Under these circumstances, some of mitigation activity is necessary. Furthermore, it would be advisable to decrease the pollution load from anthropic activities in the territory and to reduce water consumption in order to conserve groundwater resources especially. © 2011 The Royal Society of Chemistry
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
Spatial distribution of fungal microflora in the sediment of a brackish lake (Lake Alimini Grande, Italy) used for fish production and bathing
No full textA study of the distribution of fungal microflora was conducted on the sediment of Lake Alimini Grande in order to contribute to the evaluation of the ecosystem characteristics that can effect the process of decomposition. The isolation and identification of fungal species and ergosterol analysis were performed on sediment samples taken from 33 monitoring stations in autumn and winter. Altogether, 24 strains belonging to 8 genera were isolated. Trichoderma spp (41.6%) and Aspergillus spp (20.8%) were the dominant genera: in particular, Trichoderma was present near the Traugnano marsh, whereas Aspergillus was isolated in the area of connection to the sea
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
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