1,720,974 research outputs found
Residency and trophic ecology of juvenile whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) in the Western Indian Ocean
No full textThe whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest fish in the world, and while whale sharks are
popular, charismatic megafauna supporting a major tourist industry, the global whale shark
population has decreased by >50% in the past decade. Whale sharks are now listed as Endangered
on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Effective conservation of whale sharks depends on
accurate and reliable information describing their trophic and spatial ecology.
Whale sharks are found in predictable aggregations in certain coastal and island areas in the
tropics and subtropics, presumably for feeding. ‘Whale shark season’ typically lasts for a short
period at each site, and is often associated with an ephemeral food source, with individual sharks
present for varying lengths of time. Conservation assessment of whale sharks through their entire
range is difficult due to limited knowledge of their behaviour following dispersal from these coastal
aggregation sites, as well as the poor understanding of their movements and geographical
connectivity on a timeframe that is relevant to management.
Whale sharks are relatively rare, oceanic, pelagic animals. The difficulty of observing the
behaviour of mobile animals at sea, particularly in the open ocean, has encouraged the use of
indirect biochemical methods to infer aspects of trophic and spatial ecology. Stable isotope analysis
of consumer tissues provides a useful tool to investigate the retrospective movement and trophic
ecology of mobile animals, and fatty acid analysis provides further information on diet.
In this thesis I use stable isotope and fatty acid markers coupled with direct data on residency
and movement of known individual whale sharks, derived through photo-identification to examine
the trophic and spatial ecology of three male-dominated whale shark aggregations in the Western Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf. I have assembled samples from 186 individuals, representing an
estimated 7 to 55% of all individuals in their respective aggregations.
Comparing the isotopic composition of whale shark tissues with known isotopic latitudinal
gradients in diet, paired with long-term photo-identification data, I demonstrate limited latitudinal
movement of individual sharks between important whale shark feeding aggregations in
Mozambique, Tanzania, and Qatar. The relatively large isotopic dataset allows the first realistic
assessment of isotopic niche breadth in whale shark feeding aggregations. Based on these results, I
argue that eastern African and Arabian whale sharks should be treated as separate management
units until their functional connectivity is shown to be significant.
For the Tanzanian sharks, I have applied both stable isotope analysis and fatty acid analysis
to this comparatively resident aggregation over a multi-year timescale. Stable isotope analysis
indicates that the sharks forage primarily within the local food web. Fatty acid results show
epipelagic feeding, and population-level responses to seasonal environmental changes. However,
highly distinctive lipid class compositions within the local food web also suggest preferential
routing of lipids in whale shark tissues. Preferential routing of essential fatty acids may be an
unrecognised source of variance in elasmobranch dietary ecology, particularly filter feeding
elasmobranchs, which urgently requires further study.
Lastly I have used stable isotope analysis and dietary mixing models to investigate the
coastal and offshore habitat use of an unseasonal whale shark aggregation in Mozambique. Here,
isotope results suggest that whale sharks are feeding primarily on epipelagic zooplankton, and the
sharks’ presence is tied to ocean-scale dynamics, with possible dietary contributions from
epipelagic and deep-water sources. Mixing models imply the existence of an un-sampled dietary
item, potentially from offshore, oligotrophic waters and / or dietary routing in whale sharks.
Obtaining information on mobile marine animals is challenging. I also discuss the uses and
limitations of stable isotope analysis techniques applied to whale sharks over varying spatial and
temporal scales. I have shown that stable isotope analysis when used in conjunction with other
methods can prove a valuable tool to shed light on their trophic and spatial ecology, but that
interpretation of biochemical data is challenging particularly in the absence of experimental studies
validating physiological and biochemical assumptions
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Get PDF“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
Get PDFWe 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
Get PDFWe 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
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
Author Under Sail The Imagination of Jack London, 1893-1902
No full textIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Spirit Truth -- 2. From Absorption to Theatricality and Back Again -- 3. "I Will Build a New Present" -- 4. Sons as Authors -- 5. Fathers as Publishers -- 6. The Daughter as Author -- 7. Lovers as Authors -- 8. At Sea with the Family -- 9. Yellow News, Yellow Stories -- 10. The Return Home -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About Jay WilliamsIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
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