1,720,963 research outputs found
Effect of drainage and soil amendment on the quality of horse racecourse turf under simulated use
No full text"The construction of horse racecourses with sand-dominated rootzones is an attempt to maintain racing conditions in a narrow range of physical parameters such that despite soil compaction, sufficient air–filled porosity and drainage performance within the rootzone is maintained. When a large financial investment cannot be economically justified, the improvement of drainage, the modification of the native soil, or a combination of both of these, represent alternative tools for a low-cost approach to enhancing track performance. The use of compost in place of graded sand could further reduce construction costs.
A field trial was set up to study the influence of pipe drainage and topsoil amendment, with sand or compost, on a turf grown on a silt-loam soil. The following characteristics were evaluated after the application of two levels of simulated horse-type wear: hoof mark depth, ground cover, shoot density, polystand composition, verdure dry biomass, thatch thickness, root depth, root density, water infiltration rate, soil water content and penetration resistance.
Pipe drainage appeared to reduce the hoof mark depth, probably as a result of increased soil strength due to an increase in cohesion in a drier soil. Topsoil amendment with compost resulted in a better ground cover and quality while topsoil modification with sand reduced hoof mark depth and improved water infiltration rate. Based on the results of the this research, the construction of a racecourse with both pipe drainage and topsoil amendment with sand may provide a racing surface with better performance compared to most un-drained soil-based tracks.
Un progetto di Antonio Cipolla per il monumento ai fratelli Bandiera nel Vallone di Rovito (Cosenza), 1864
No full text
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
LIFE-CLIVUT, ecosystem benefits of urban green areas: a pilot case study in Perugia (Italy)
No full textTrees have a great value in terms of ecosystem services in urban areas. LIFE
CLIVUT is an “Information and Governance” European project developed in 4
Mediterranean Cities, with the goal of increasing the knowledge and awareness
of citizens, especially young people, on the importance of the presence
and good management of urban trees to mitigate the “Heat Island” effects.
The data collected on the value of tree heritage and their future potential are
used to design a green asset management strategy that will help urban planners
adopt better practices for the mitigation of the effects of climate change
in urban environments. This paper illustrates the results of tree census activity
in four urban green areas of Perugia, Central Italy, that will be compared
with those recorded in others cities involved in the project. Dendrometric parameters
(diameter at breast height, tree height, first branch height, max and
min crown width, crown shape and density) were recorded in situ using a dedicated
software operating through a web app (“Clivut-Treedb”). The following
ecosystem services were estimated: CO2 sequestration, particulate matter
(PM) absorption, shadow effect, biodiversity indexes. Several tree species
characterized by important wood structures during their adult phase, such as
Pinus pinea, Quercus ilex, Q. pubescens, Ulmus carpinifolia, Populus alba and
Aesculus hippocastanum showed the highest estimates of CO2 stored. Q. ilex
was the most efficient species in particulate adsorption, showing similar estimates
(about 60 g PM10 tree-1 year-1) in the 3 oldest green areas established in
the 1980s, while the youngest plantations (dating back to 2005) absorbed
about 10 g tree-1 of PM10 per year. In terms of the potential cooling effect of
trees, preliminary estimates of the shaded areas highlighted the difference between
the older green areas (about 50% of shading) compared to the younger
ones (about 15% and 8%)
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