1,720,956 research outputs found
Agroecosystem diversification for sustainability: the effects of crop rotation on soil microbial diversity, fertility and yield
Full text linkAgricultural intensification can involve the simplification of agroecosystems to crop
monocultures requiring agrochemicals to maintain soil fertility and control pests. This can have
negative impacts on the ecosystem services flowing to and from agroecosystems and thus,
more sustainable management practices are necessary. Broader ecological theories propose
that ecosystem biodiversity is important for ecosystem function. Within agriculture, increasing
aboveground diversity through crop rotation, a component of conservation agriculture, can
enhance the ecosystem services supporting an increase in cash-crop yield. The extent to
which the belowground microbial diversity can be manipulated through crop rotations and may
facilitate the yield increase is unclear. This thesis aimed at investigating (1) the relationship
between above and belowground diversity in crop rotation systems, and (2) the relationship
between diversity in (1) and agroecosystem function in terms of soil fertility, including nitrogen
fertility, and crop yield.
A quantitative review of the literature using a meta-analysis of 27 studies from around the
world found that soils under a higher diversity of crops in rotation produced higher microbial
richness (+15.11%) and diversity (+3.36%) scores. This effect was significantly influenced by
the type of microbial analysis method used, the length of the study trial, and the percentage
annual ground cover. There was a high between-study heterogeneity and no correlation to soil
nitrogen fertility.
A field study at Langgewens Experimental Farm (Western Cape Department of Agriculture’s
19-year wheat-legume crop rotation trial in the Swartland Local Municipality of South Africa)
added to the meta-analysis. Community level physiological profiling (CLPP) and automated
rRNA intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA) were used as measures of functional and genetic
microbial diversity, respectively. Increasing crop diversity through rotations of wheat with
medic (Wm) or a combination of medic and clover (Wmc) resulted in greater wheat plant stem
length and N concentrations when compared to wheat monoculture (WW). This effect seemed
to be less linked with microbial diversity per se than with the Rhizobium species present
because both microbial analyses found no differences in soil microbial activity, richness or
diversity with increasing crop diversity. The lack of relationship between above and
belowground diversity is likely due to other abiotic drivers of microbial community structure
such as P availability, Na and K excess, and pH, all of which correlated to microbial activity
and functional richness in our study. The role that microbial diversity plays in the agroecosystem diversity-function relationship remains complex as revealed by the lack of
correlation between functional and genetic diversity scores. However, the relation between
crop diversity and functional components including wheat yield and soil N followed a humpshaped
curve.
The results of this thesis suggest that soil biodiversity and function are decoupled in
agroecosystems. This provides support for the hypothesis that ecosystem function may be a
product of either specific productive species (selection effect), or the facilitative interaction of
multiple species (complementarity effect). Further investigation into the role of specific
functional microbial groups in the yield increase of crop rotation systems using next-generation
sequencing is required.National Research Foundatio
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
Author Under Sail The Imagination of Jack London, 1893-1902
No full textIn 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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