1,721,048 research outputs found
The in-group/out-group dynamics of Nerdrum’s positioning of Kitsch as a reflection of situatedness within contemporary art
Get PDFIn his description of the Kitsch movement Odd Nerdrum distinguishes between Kitsch and art. This article investigates the concept of Kitsch as theorized by Nerdrum as a manifestation of situatedness within contemporary art. Nerdrum's positioning of kitsch as Kitsch, and as the alternative to contemporary art, links with other critics' views of the significance of kitsch within a post-industrial, modernist and postmodernist society. The techniques employed by Nerdrum in his attempts to re-situate Kitsch are held to reflect the concepts in-group/out-group dynamics, as theorized in social identity theory. I argue that Nerdrum attempts to reposition kitsch - from an out-group to contemporary art - to Kitsch - as an in-group. In this the Kitsch movement can be seen as the manifestation of the need for a change of the situatedness of those who create within the framework of what is considered to be kitsch. Nerdrum's definition of Kitsch, however, is shown to be an ironically modernist marginalizing force in itself, again situating certain artistic attempts as the out-group
Power calculation accuracy as a function of wind data resolution
Get PDFWind power calculations are usually based on average wind data taken over one-hour intervals. The effect of the wind data resolution on the statistical techniques used to calculate the probable power output (PPO) is commonly overlooked. This effect is analysed in this paper by iteratively calculating and comparing the PPO of a wind turbine using data, averaged over different periods, obtained from Wind Association of South Africa. The power is calculated using both Weibull representation and direct polynomial substitution techniques in order to compare and verify the results. The results indicate a fairly linear relationship between the resolution used and the PPO error incurred. These results raise an interest to examine the effects of a fine resolution on the data in terms of data dependence, which may violate the criteria for the majority of statistical tests and procedure
Final 192-week ffficacy and safety results of the ADVANCE trial, comparing 3 first-line antiretroviral regimens
No full textBackground: ADVANCE compared 3 World Health Organization-recommended first-line regimens in participants with HIV who were antiretroviral naive.Methods: This randomized, open-label, noninferiority trial enrolled participants living with HIV with no antiretroviral exposure in the previous 6 months to 1 of the following arms: tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) / emtricitabine (FTC) + dolutegravir (DTG) (2 tablets), tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) / FTC + DTG (2 tablets), or a fixed-dose combination of TDF / FTC / efavirenz (EFV) (1 tablet). We report the final safety and efficacy data up to 192 weeks.Results: Repeat consent from the original 351 participants randomized to each arm was obtained from 230 participants (66%) in the TAF/FTC + DTG arm, 209 (60%) in the TDF/FTC + DTG arm, and 183 (52%) in the TDF/FTC/EFV arm. At 192 weeks, 213 (61%) of the original 351 participants in the TAF/FTC + DTG arm, 195 (56%) in the TDF/FTC + DTG arm, and 172 (49%) in the TDF/FTC/EFV arm had confirmed RNA <50 copies/mL, with low virologic failure in all groups and no significant integrase inhibitor mutations in any arm. Mean weight gain was 8.9 kg (SD, 7.1) in the TAF/FTC + DTG arm, 5.9 kg (SD, 7.1) in the TDF/FTC + DTG arm, and 3.2 kg (SD, 8.1) in the TDF/FTC/EFV arm at 192 weeks from baseline and was greatest among women, those taking TAF, and those with lower baseline CD4 counts. The weight trajectory slowed after week 96. There were few clinical events and minor laboratory changes and differences among arms after 96 weeks. There were no significant differences in treatment-emergent hypertension or pregnancy outcomes by arm.Conclusions: High viral suppression was seen across arms, with no resistance to DTG. Weight gain continued but slowed after 96 weeks, with few clinical events or laboratory changes
An explorative study into the effectiveness of a customs operation and its impact on trade
No full textThere is a lack of overall efficiency in Sub-Saharan Africa’s logistics systems, with a
large contributor to this problem being inefficient customs processes and unnecessary
customs delays. Many comparisons have been drawn between the levels of efficiency
of different countries and regions, especially in recent trade facilitation research, and
some models have been developed to demonstrate how the efficiency of a customs
operation can potentially be improved. The development of effective policies, strategies
and operational procedures, supported by business intelligence and predictive models,
however, depends on an in-depth understanding of the reasons for long delays in
the customs process. There are multiple factors impacting the customs and logistics
process; in order to progress towards improved solutions it is essential to identify the
areas of worst performance, their common denominators and the underlying causes that
contribute to low observed performance. This requires exploratory analysis of a large
set of data representative of an overall customs operation. This article describes the first
attempt to analyse transaction-level data and derive exploratory statistics representative
of customs operations as implemented in South Africa. The most important process
outcomes from the perspective of both trade and customs are defined, the key input
factors are identified, and performance measures are extracted from data exchanged
between the customs authority and cargo consignors during the period September
2014 to September 2016. The time duration per category for the completion of the
customs process was measured, as well as the effectiveness of the customs authority
in screening consignments for inspection. The study indicates that, for the selected
dataset, of all shipments delayed by customs, more than 90 per cent were delayed
unnecessarily, indicating inefficient risk identification in the South African customs
process. This study highlights the need for improved customs processes in the southern
African context to ensure more efficient trad
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
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