1,720,996 research outputs found
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
The role of loneliness in the neurocognitive processing of psychosocial stress and trauma
Get PDFLoneliness is a ubiquitous problem in modern societies due to its detrimental psychological and physiological health effects. Loneliness is closely associated with psychosocial stress, a link further exacerbating mental health problems and subjective suffering. The following thesis tried to shed light on the interconnection between the physiological and psychological phenotypes of stress and loneliness and investigate their consequences for mental well-being. Thus, study 1 examined alexithymia as a predictor for psychosocial stress during social transition phases with an additional focus on how loneliness contributes to this connection. Therefore, alexithymia, loneliness, and perceived stress were monitored in first-year students and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was conducted at the beginning and six months after their transition to university. The results demonstrated that alexithymia predicted higher psychosocial stress via enhanced loneliness levels. On a neural level, insula reactivity mediated the connection between alexithymia and loneliness. Study 2 investigated romantic relationships and current living situations as possible protective factors for loneliness and stress during the COVID-19 lockdown. To that end, momentary loneliness and cortisol levels were assessed. The study revealed that romantic relationships and living with others could protect against loneliness, whereas romantic relationships might even reduce neuroendocrine stress response showing the protective quality of social connectedness during challenging times. To elucidate the role of loneliness as a potential risk factor for psychopathology, study 3 applied an experimental trauma paradigm to elicit intrusive thoughts in a sample of lonely and non-lonely subjects. Prior to trauma exposure, an fMRI scan was conducted to examine loneliness-related changes in neural fear processing. Results showed an interaction of sex and loneliness, with high lonely men exhibiting more intrusive thoughts and an amygdala hyperreactivity to fear signals implying increased vulnerability after trauma exposure. Moreover, a literature review (study 4) was conducted as part of this thesis to outline structural and functional neural changes related to loneliness. To summarize, the presented results confirm that loneliness acts directly on the neuroendocrine and neural stress systems, potentially enhancing the malicious effects of stress on psychopathology. Hence, new studies should focus on deepening the understanding of the neural pathways of loneliness to tailor new neuroscientifically informed therapies targeting perceived social isolation
Hormonal Interactions and Sex Matter: Neural and Behavioral Effects of Estradiol and Oxytocin
Get PDFThe sex hormone estradiol and the neuropeptide oxytocin induce a variety of behavioral and neural effects, but possible underlying interactions have not been tested in a sample involving both sexes. Thus, the current thesis aimed to elucidate sex-specific effects of estradiol, and decipher its interactions with oxytocin.
Study 1 focused on the sex-specific behavioral effects of estradiol on economic decision-making and revealed that it opposingly affects the sensitivity to perceived fairness in women and men. Furthermore, the simple belief in receiving an estradiol treatment altered responses to unfair framed offers in both sexes. Therefore, future studies are warranted to control for stereotypical beliefs associated with a specific treatment, beyond the direct hormonal effects.
Study 2 investigated the impact of estradiol, oxytocin, and their interaction on sex differences in emotional episodic memory. Irrespective of the emotional valence, women exhibited a better overall memory performance than men under placebo, accompanied by increased hippocampus responses to remembered items. The single treatment with estradiol or oxytocin diminished this mnemonic sex difference and reversed the sex-specific hippocampus responses. Intriguingly, the combined treatment produced no significant effect. Hence, the results suggest that the separate treatments modulate sex differences in episodic memory, while their co-administration indicates an antagonistic interaction between both hormones.
To probe task-independent effects, study 3 examined the sex-specific influence of both hormones on hippocampus and amygdala resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC). In women, the single treatments enhanced rsFC between the right hippocampus and the left anterior cingulate gyrus compared to placebo. By contrast, in men, either hormone decreased rsFC between the left amygdala and the right and left lingual gyrus, the right calcarine fissure, and the right superior parietal gyrus. Interestingly, in both sexes, the observed single treatment effects were reversed following the combined treatment, further supporting the notion that both hormones might antagonistically interact.
Collectively, the current thesis detected sex- and region-specific effects of estradiol and oxytocin. Additionally, their potentially antagonistic relation might have contributed to priorly reported opposing hormonal effects in women and men. In conclusion, this thesis highlights the necessity for future studies to consider sex and hormonal interactions, besides simple hormonal effects and stereotypical beliefs, as important moderating factors and to integrate them into their research designs
Loneliness: Cognitive factors and neurobiological mechanisms
Get PDFLoneliness is a painful condition with detrimental effects on physical and mental health. However, it is still unclear which mechanisms hinder lonely individuals from forming new social relationships which might alleviate their loneliness. The aim of the current thesis was thus to investigate potential factors contributing to the development or maintenance of loneliness. Specifically, alexithymia, a personality trait characterized by reduced emotional awareness, was examined as a predictor for loneliness. As alexithymia might lead to difficulties in forming new relationships during social transition phases, alexithymic traits of first-year students were assessed, and loneliness as well as perceived stress were monitored for six months during their first semester at university (study 1). Moreover, previous work indicated that the relationship between alexithymia and loneliness might be mediated by interpersonal trust, which is crucial not only for developing relationships but also for the beneficial effects of social interactions. Therefore, study 2 investigated to what extent reduced trust mechanistically contributes to impaired social interactions associated with loneliness. Ultimately, the hypothesized decreased emotional awareness and reduced interpersonal trust might promote social avoidance behavior, which might further foster loneliness. Hence, study 3 examined known behavioral and neural correlates of social avoidance in lonely individuals. The results of the current thesis provide evidence for loneliness as a vulnerability factor for increased stress experiences, which might drive the detrimental health effects of loneliness. Moreover, the predictive role of alexithymia for loneliness was confirmed, and diminished insular reactivity to emotional stimuli could be identified as a potential underlying mechanism of this relationship. Further support for the involvement of the anterior insula (AI) in loneliness was provided by study 2. As hypothesized, lonely individuals reported reduced interpersonal trust, and blunted AI functioning during trust decisions was associated with an attenuated affective and endocrinological responsiveness to a positive social interaction. A compromised neural integration of trust-related information might thus underlie impaired social interactions in loneliness. However, loneliness was not associated with correlates of social avoidance as known for social anxiety. Conclusively, the current thesis provides evidence for loneliness as a unique construct distinguishable from related psychopathology and offers important starting points for the development of scientifically based interventions
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
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