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    Effects of first intermediate host density, host size and salinity on trematode infections in mussels of the south-western Baltic Sea

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    Trematode prevalence and abundance in hosts are known to be affected by biotic drivers as well as by abiotic drivers. In this study, we used the unique salinity gradient found in the south-western Baltic Sea to: (i) investigate patterns of trematode infections in the first intermediate host, the periwinkle Littorina littorea and in the downstream host, the mussel Mytilus edulis, along a regional salinity gradient (from 13 to 22) and (ii) evaluate the effects of first intermediate host (periwinkle) density, host size and salinity on trematode infections in mussels. Two species dominated the trematode community, Renicola roscovita and Himasthla elongata. Salinity, mussel size and density of infected periwinkles were significantly correlated with R. roscovita, and salinity and density correlated with H. elongata abundance. These results suggest that salinity, first intermediate host density and host size play an important role in determining infection levels in mussels, with salinity being the main major driver. Under expected global change scenarios, the predicted freshening of the Baltic Sea might lead to reduced trematode transmission, which may be further enhanced by a potential decrease in periwinkle density and mussel size

    Freshening rather than warming drives trematode transmission from periwinkles to mussels

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    In the Western Baltic Sea, climate change is happening at much faster rate than in most other seas and organisms are additionally exposed to a steep and variable salinity gradient. Climate change has previously been shown to affect parasite transmission in other marine ecosystems, yet little is known about potential effects of warming and desalination on parasite–host interactions. In laboratory experiments, we determined the combined effects of projected seawater warming and freshening on the emergence, activity, survival, and infectivity of cercariae (free-swimming infectious stage) of the trematode Himasthla elongata (Mehlis 1831), shed from its first intermediate host, the periwinkle Littorina littorea (Linnaeus 1758), in the Baltic Sea. We also assessed the susceptibility of the second intermediate host, the mussel Mytilus edulis Linnaeus, 1758, to cercarial infections. Generally, salinity was the main driver, particularly of cercarial activity, infectivity, and mussel susceptibility to infection. At the lowest salinity (13), cercariae were 50% less active compared to the highest salinity (19). Infection success and host susceptibility followed a similar pattern, with 47% and 43% less metacercariae (encysted stage) present at salinity 13 than at salinity 19, respectively. In contrast, effects of simulated warming were found only for cercarial survival, with cercarial longevity being higher at 19 than at 23 °C. No significant interactions between temperature and salinity were found. In contrast to the literature, the results suggest that a climate change-driven freshening (partly also warming) may lead to a general decline of marine trematodes, with possible beneficial effects for the involved hosts

    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
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