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    Nitrogen Isotope Variation in the Environment: Implications for Interpretation

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    Natural abundance of 15N varies greatly and unpredictably within and between environments. The unpredictable nature of 15N limits the use of N isotope natural abundance (d15N) in tracing the flow and fate of N in environments. Recent investigations have, however, revealed consistent and repeatable patterns of 15N in some ecosystem components. These patterns suggest that d15N may yet provide a tool to investigate and illuminate ecosystem N cycling processes. Identifying and quantifying the sources of isotopic variation must precede any significant advance in the application of this technique, and to this end an assessment of isotopic variation associated with major ecosystem components has been carried out in this thesis. d15N patterns have been established, hypotheses proposed and tested, and conclusions about the application of the technique are presented. 15N patterns in surface and groundwater were measured in a variety of different land-use catchments in an attempt to identify distinct isotopic 'fingerprints'. High levels of 15N variation were measured in both stream and groundwaters, resulting in strongly overlapping land-use 'fingerprints'. Environmental 15N variation in streams and groundwaters was found to be too great to differentiate between land-uses based on d15N alone. In contrast, the artificially 15N enriched signature of effluent N was used to trace its flow and fate, following irrigation, in a forested catchment. The effluent d15N signature allowed it to be traced into the major ecosystem components, permitting a first order N budget to be determined for effluent N storage and loss. N sources with significantly different 15N signatures to that of 'background ecosystem N' can therefore be used to trace the flow and fate of N in ecosystems. During the course of this work a number of higher and lower order plants were observed to have highly depleted (lt; -8 ) d15N signatures. Epiphytes and lithophytes, strongly reliant on atmospheric N sources, were consistently depleted in 15N, with signatures as low as -24 , measured in a range of environments. A similar level of depletion was measured in a wide range of plants growing in early primary succession sites (as low as -22.3 ), which could not be accounted for by any abiotic or biotic factor or significantly depleted N source. The absence of any measurable driver of depletion suggested a universal fractionating mechanism which acts in a wide range of environments and vegetation types. Diffusive uptake of atmospheric NH3(g) and the proportional uptake of a supplied N source were two proposed mechanisms that could theoretically account for the level and universal nature of depletion. Diffusive uptake of atmospheric NH3(g) was tested as a primary fractionating mechanism in plants. Strongly N deficient plants were capable of utilising NH3(g) as a nutritional source, but the level of 15N depletion measured in these plants closely approximated that of the inherent NH3(g) d15N signature. No significant additional fractionation is associated with NH3(g) diffusive uptake. Diffusive uptake of atmospheric NH3(g) by plants cannot alone account for the level of depletion measured in early primary succession plant communities. Proportional uptake of a N source as a primary fractionating mechanism was tested by growing plants in various concentrations and rates of applied N. Fractionation attributed to the proportional uptake of a supplied N source, as a consequence of P limitation or rapid flow over roots, resulted in a significant level of 15N depletion in plants. The level of depletion attributed to this mechanism was, however, not sufficient to account for the level measured in early primary succession plant communities. Individual 15N fractionating mechanisms cannot alone explain the level of depletion observed in early primary succession plants, however a combination of fractionating mechanisms can. Fractionation attributed to the proportional uptake of an already depleted N source, i.e., wet deposited N, largely accounts for the level of depletion measured in early succession plant communities. This two-step fractionation model can act on both higher and lower plants, independent of ecosystem biotic and abiotic factors. Additional, and less dramatic fractionations attributed to atmospheric NH3(g) uptake, mycorrhizal associations, internal remobilisation, and taxon-specific N acquisition strategies, will contribute to the level of d15N depletion. This thesis presents the first extensive survey of highly depleted d15N signatures in terrestrial vegetation. Furthermore, thorough testing of theoretically plausible mechanisms has resulted in a full account of the highly depleted d15N signatures measured in a wide range of vegetation types and environments

    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

    Author Under Sail The Imagination of Jack London, 1893-1902

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    In 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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