1,720,962 research outputs found
The effects of the particle size of four different feeds on the larval growth of Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)
Full text linkDiet is one of the most important factors affecting the growth and lifecycle of Tenebrio molitor L. The chemical and nutritional properties of the diet of mealworms are well studied whereas its physical properties are almost neglected. This work aims to study the effects of four different particle sizes (0–0.8, 0.8–2, 2–3 and 3–4 mm) of four different feeds (wheat bran, chicken feed pellets, grounded corn kernels and alfalfa dried pellets). Four-week-old larvae were reared on the experimental substrates for four to six weeks depending on the feed. Our results indicate that particle size can signifi cantly infl uence larval growth and that particles smaller than 2 mm improve larval growth on all feeds except alfalfa pellets. The maximum larval weight was slightly different for wheat bran (12%) when comparing particle sizes smaller than 2 mm with greater than 2 mm but increased up to 70% when corn kernels were used as feed. Signifi cant differences were found between the different feeds for growth rate, larval weight and variability in larval weight. The larvae that reached an average weight of 100 mg the fastest were those reared on wheat bran followed by chicken feed and corn kernels. Larvae reared on alfalfa pellets did not reach an average weight of 60 mg. The variability in larval growth was lowest when fed wheat bran followed by chicken feed and alfalfa pellets, and the highest variability was recorded when fed corn kernels. In conclusion, both the type (wheat bran, chicken feed and corn kernels) and particle size (< 2 mm) of the feed were important determinants of larval growt
Review: Recent advances in insect-based feeds: from animal farming to the acceptance of consumers and stakeholders
Full text linkThe search for new, alternative and sustainable feeding sources, including insects, has become an important challenge on the feed market. In 2017, the European Union (EU) started to allow the use of insect meals as feeds for fish. In addition, in 2021, the EU also authorised the use of insect meal for pig and poultry farming. However, the adoption of insect meal by the European aquaculture sector is still limited, and this is mostly due to the lack of availability of insects and their higher costs than conventional feed ingredients. Thus, the insect-based feed industry is still in its infancy, and its successful development and integration in the food value chain depend on several factors. Among these, the technical feasibility and production of quality products, and acceptance by European consumers and farmers are relevant factors. To address these points, this narrative review describes the state of the art of the potential role of insect-based feeds. The stakeholders' and consumers' perspectives are investigated, along with the effects of insect-based feeds on the production and nutritional values of fish, poultry (meat and eggs), and pork. Indeed, matching the nutritional values of insect products with conventional feeds is one of the future challenges of the insect sector, as their nutritional composition is highly dependent on the rearing substrates, and thus, their use in animal feeding needs to be investigated carefully. Feeding animals with insect-based diets affects their growth performances and the chemical composition of the derived products (fish fillets, meat, and eggs). Whether these effects can be considered positive or negative seems to depend to a great extent on the percentage of insects included in their diets and the chemical composition of the ingredients. The use of insect-based feeds has also shown a potential to improve the nutritional features and values of animal products and even to add new ones. Finally, many of the acceptance studies on the use of insects in feeds have focused mostly on the consumers' perception rather than on industry stakeholders (e.g., farmers). Future research should focus more on the farmers' perceptions on and market analyses of these innovative feeds. Even though it is likely that the upscaling of the insect sector will lead to a decrease in prices and an increase in market availability, it is still critical to understand the potential barriers and drivers for the implementation of insects as feeds from a production point of view. (c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The Animal Consortium. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
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
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
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