1,720,966 research outputs found
Interaction between human engineering and natural processes of delta evolution: A Bayesian network modelling approach
No full textDeltaic environments are low-lying coastal areas which often concentrate population and socio-economic values. They constitute hotspots of climatic, environmental and anthropogenic change and are exposed to both rapid and slow onset hazards, such as storm surges and land subsidence. The frequency and severity of these hazards is expected to increase reflecting natural and anthropogenic forcings. There is a long history of engineered interventions being used to counteract these hazards in deltas. Large scale engineered structures, such as dyke rings and polders, have played an important role in shaping both environmental and socio-economic conditions in many populated deltas. This may lead to a feedback between natural and human processes, providing an example of coevolution. Coevolution starts when humans first implement engineered interventions, which reduces the flood hazard in the short-term, but also alters and often disrupts hydrological and natural deltaic processes. This in turn drives the need for additional engineered interventions. The aim of this thesis is to investigate how engineered adaptations have shaped populated deltas through time, and how these might influence their future development.An historical analysis of five representative highly populated deltas identified generic evolutionary pathways for deltas and key cause-effect relationships. The triggers and impacts of engineered interventions within the deltas were also analysed. The type of engineering intervention used within deltas varies with hazard type, level of economic development and land use. While less economically developed deltas use less advanced methods of engineered interventions, all the deltas were experiencing coevolution, as defined above. In addition, the deltas in wealthy developed countries (e.g., the Rhine, Netherlands) have reached a state of lock-in. This is where they are entirely dependent on structural interventions and their enhancement to protect the delta area from increasingly hazardous events- i.e. they have no other adaptation choice. All the other deltas are heading in this same direction. To explore these processes further, a conceptual model of a generic delta in a developing country was developed, including the key natural and human processes shaping the delta and causing coevolution. This conceptual model was operationalised using Bayesian Statistics and the literature, supplemented by expert opinion, as needed. Over time, exploratory model simulations exhibited delta coevolution. Human aspects of the model had a greater long term influence on the development trajectory of the delta compared to the natural aspects, which generated short term, localised implications. Pressured deltas, i.e. deltas exposed to sea level rise, upstream engineering and pressures to develop the economy, are likely to follow a similar development pathway to developed country deltas, becoming more urbanised and thus locked-in to structural protection interventions. An alternative innovative adaptation approach to dykes based on controlled sedimentation to raise land elevations reduced the likelihood of delta flooding and its adverse impacts. This counters lock-in and increases choices in long-term delta management. As deltas become increasingly vulnerable locations, due to relative sea-level rise and climate change, rising populations and increased development, this thesis emphasises the importance of recognising and addressing the adverse long-term effects of traditional engineered interventions. Innovative management approaches are required to develop interventions that satisfy not only hazard management in the short-term but promoting sustainable deltas and avoiding lock-in in the long-term. Building elevation via controlled sedimentation within deltas is a potential solution explored within this study. However, application of this method requires a fundamental change of preference from hard engineered interventions by delta stakeholders
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
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
Health consultation, exposure investigation of private drinking water wells : Motorola 52nd Street superfund site, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona
Get PDFabstract: The purpose of the consultation is to identify any current groundwater use in the Motorola 52nd Street Superfund Site area that might result in human exposure to site contaminants. The Arizona Department of Health Services previously evaluated well use in Operable Units 1 and 2 in 1992. This report updates the well use inventory for Operable Units 1 and 2 and provides an evaluation of potential groundwater exposure pathways in Operable Unit 3.Under cooperative agreement with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.Includes bibliographical references (p. 18-19)
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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