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    Grain jeld and kernel weight of two maize genotypes differing in nitrogen use efficiency at variuos levels of nitrogen and carbohydrate availability during flowering and grain filling

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    Grain yield per plant (GYP) and mean kernel weight (KW) of maize (Zea mays L.) are sensitive to changes in the environment during the lag phase of kernel growth (the time after pollination in which the potential kernel size is determined), and during the phase of linear kernel growth. The aim of this study was to assess genotypic differences in the response to environmental stresses associated with N and/or carbohydrate shortage at different phases during plant development. The rate and timing of N and carbo- hydrate supply were modified by application of fertilizer, shading, and varying the plant density at sow- ing, at silking or at 14 d after silking. The effects of these treatments on the photosynthetic capacity, grain yield and mean kernel weight were investigated in two hybrids differing in N use efficiency. The total above-ground biomass and grain yield per plant of the efficient hybrid responded little to altered environmental conditions such as suboptimal N supply, enhanced inter-plant competition, and shading for 14 d during flowering, when compared to the less efficient genotype. We conclude that grain yields in the efficient genotype are less sensitive not only to N stress, but also to carbohydrate shortage before grain filling. Shading of N deficient plants from 14 d after silking to maturity did not significantly reduce grain yield in the non-efficient genotype, indicating complete sink limitation of grain yield during grain filling. In the efficient genotype, in contrast, grain yield of N-deficient plants was significantly reduced by shading during grain filling. The rate of photosynthesis declined with decreasing foliar N content. No genotypic differences in photosynthesis were observed at high or low foliar N contents. However, at high plant density and low N supply, the leaf chlorophyll content after flowering in the efficient genotype was higher than that in the non-efficient genotype. Obviously, the higher source capacity of the efficient geno- type was not due to higher photosynthetic N use efficiency but due to maintenance of high chlorophyll contents under stressful conditions. In the efficient genotype, the harvest index was not significantly affected by N fertilization, plant density, or shading before the grain filling period. In contrast, in the non-efficient genotype the harvest index was diminished by N deficiency and shading during flowering. We conclude that the high yielding ability of the efficient genotype under stressful conditions was associated with formation of a high sink capacity of the grains under conditions of low carbohydrate and N availability during flowering and with maintenance of high source strength during grain filling under conditions of high plant density and low N availability

    Kernel set in maize genotypes differing in nitrogen use efficiency in response to resource availability around flowering

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    Environmental conditions affect grain yield in maize (Zea mays L.) mainly by altering the kernel number per plant (KNP). This number is determined during a critical period of about 2 weeks around silking. The objectives of this study were to assess how the rate and timing of nitrogen (N) fertilizer applications affect biomass partitioning and KNP in two genotypes with different N use efficiency, and to compare kernel set of these genotypes under varying regimes of carbohydrate and N availability during the criti- cal period for kernel set. In the first field experiment, plant density and the rate of N supply per plant were varied independently. In the second field experiment, N availability was controlled via the applica- tion of N fertilizer, and carbohydrate availability was controlled by shading or thinning at silking. In both experiments, low rates of N supply reduced KNP more strongly in the non-efficient genotype when compared to the efficient genotype. The genotypic differences in kernel set were neither associated with N uptake into the above-ground biomass at maturity, nor above-ground biomass at silking. In the non- efficient genotype, application of N fertilizer at silking increased KNP. This increase was not associated with an increase in plant growth but with increased partitioning of biomass towards the reproductive organs during the critical period for kernel set. The genotype which had been selected for its high N use efficiency also showed higher kernel set at high plant density and shading during flowering when com- pared to the non-efficient genotype. Under conditions of restricted resource availability per plant, plant and ear growth rates during the critical period of about 14 days after onset of flowering declined com- pared with non-limiting conditions. However, these growth rates were less reduced in the efficient geno- type. Pooling treatments of different plant density and different available N, each hybrid showed linear responses of KNP to plant growth rate and to ear growth rate. Furthermore, in the efficient genotype KNP was reduced to a lesser extent in response to decreasing growth rates. We conclude that higher kernel set of the efficient genotype compared to the non-efficient genotype under stressful conditions was associated with low sensitivity of plant growth and dry matter distribution towards reproductive organs to low assimilate availability during the critical period of kernel set, and particularly with low sensitivity of kernel set to decreasing plant and ear growth rates

    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
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