1,720,962 research outputs found
Application of Biotests for the Determination of Soil Ecotoxicity after Exposure to Biodegradable Plastics
Full text linkBiodegradable plastics are mostly applied in packaging materials (e.g., shopping bags), waste collection bags, catering products, and agricultural applications. In this last case, degradation takes place directly in soil where biodegradable plastic products are intentionally left after use (e.g., mulch films for weeds control). Due to the growing volumes of biodegradable polymers and plastics, interest in their environmental safety is increasing and more research is carried out. Some attempt has been made to apply biotests, used in other sectors of environmental sciences, in the assessment of biodegradable plastics safety. In this work, the quality of soils after biodegradation of the bioplastics Mater-Bi has been assessed with a large array of biotests based on model organisms representative of the different trophic levels in the food chains of the edaphic and aquatic ecosystems. Mater-Bi was degraded under controlled conditions for 6 months at a 1% concentration. The selected organisms included bacteria and protozoa (Vibrio fischeri and Dictyostelium discoideum, respectively), the green alga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, plants (the monocotyledon Sorghum saccharatum and the dicotyledon Lepidium sativum), and invertebrates animals (Daphnia magna, a freshwater crustacean, and the Oligochaeta earthworm Eisenia andrei), using both acute and chronic endpoints. The results of the applied ecotoxicological tests showed that the Mater-Bi materials tested at very high doses did not affect the soil quality. Soil exposed to Mater-Bi has no noxious effects on edaphic organisms; in particular, mono and dicotyledon plants results, indicate that Mater-Bi plastic products are innocuous for agricultural uses. The use of more sensitive chronic endpoints allows to exclude possible effects at population level. This is the first time that such a comprehensive approach is applied to the assessment of possible ecotoxicity effects induced by biodegradable plastics in soil and represents a possible starting point for improved standardized testing schemes
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
Genotoxicity assessment in Eisenia andrei coelomocytes: a study of the induction of DNA damage and micronuclei in earthworms exposed to B[a]P- and TCDD-spiked soils.
No full textEarthworms are useful indicators of soil quality and are widely used as model organisms in terrestrial ecotoxicology. The assessment of genotoxic effects caused by environmental pollutants is of great concern because of their relevance in carcinogenesis. In this work, the earthworm Eisenia andrei was exposed for 10 and 28 days to artificial standard soil contaminated with environmentally relevant concentrations of benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) (0.1, 10, 50ppm) and 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro-dibenzo-para-dioxin (TCDD) (1×10(-5), 1×10(-4), 2×10(-3)ppm). Micronucleus (MNi) induction was evaluated in earthworm coelomocytes after DNA staining with the fluorescent dye DAPI. In the same cells, the DNA damage was assessed by means of the alkaline comet assay. Induction of MNi in coelomocytes, identified according to standard criteria, was demonstrated. B[a]P exposure for 10 and 28 days induced a significant increase in MNi frequency. In TCDD-treated earthworms, a significant effect on chromosomal damage was observed at all the concentrations used; surprisingly, greater effects were induced in animals exposed to the lowest concentration (1×10(-5)ppm). The data of the comet assay revealed a significant increase in the level of DNA damage in coelomocytes of earthworms exposed for 10 and 28 days to the different concentrations of B[a]P and TCDD. The results show that the comet and MN assays were able to reveal genotoxic effects in earthworms exposed even to the lowest concentrations of both chemicals tested here. The combined application in E. andrei of the comet assay and the micronucleus test, which reflect different biological mechanisms, may be suggested to identify genotoxic effects induced in these invertebrates by environmental contaminants in terrestrial ecosystems
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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