1,721,000 research outputs found

    Improved fitness of aphid parasitoids receiving resource subsidies

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    The availability of nonhost resource subsidies affects the ability of parasitoids to overcome egg and time limitation and maximize lifetime reproductive success. We combined field and laboratory experiments to examine the effects of floral resource subsidies on the reproductive fitness of aphid parasitoids. Under controlled laboratory conditions, sugar resources significantly increased longevity and potential fecundity (egg load) in the endoparasitoids Aphidius rhopalosiphi and Diaeretiella rapae (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae). Laboratory microcosm experiments showed that increased potential fecundity translated into significantly higher realized fecundity (i.e., rates of aphid parasitism) by A. rhopalosiphi receiving resource subsidies. Mechanisms of enhanced realized fecundity also operated under natural field conditions. Replicated field experiments on cultivated wheat, with host density controlled by experimental placement of aphids, showed that, in general, proximity to floral resource patches significantly increased rates of parasitism. Parasitism rates declined exponentially with increasing distance from floral patches, reaching zero beyond 14 m. Increased potential fecundity reduces the chances of parasitoids becoming egg-limited, whereas increased longevity reduces the chances of parasitoids becoming time-limited during host oviposition. Although the plasticity of egg load and longevity observed under varying conditions of resource availability is probably more relevant to parasitoid evolution, the individual fitness benefits from ephemeral resource patches are certainly important in the ecological enhancement of biological control agents

    The effects of floral understoreys on parasitism of leafrollers (Lepidoptera : Tortricidae) on apples in New Zealand

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    1 Field and laboratory experiments on the conservation biocontrol of lepidopteran leafroller pests were carried out in apples at Lincoln, New Zealand. 2 Apple understoreys were planted with replicated treatments of alyssum (Lobidaria maritima). phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia) and buckwheat (Fagopyrum? esculentum). 3 Rates of parasitism of experimentally released larvae of the light-brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), by Dolichogenidea tasmanica (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) were significantly lower in phacelia and control treatments, and leafroller pupae were significantly more abundant in controls than in buckwheat and alyssum treatments. 4 Naturally occurring leafroller damage was up to 29% lower above all the floral understorey treatments compared with controls and there were more than twice as many D. tasmanica cocoons in the alyssum and buckwheat treatments than in controls. 5 Suction sampling of the understoreys gave D. tasmanica adult densities that were significantly more abundant in alyssum compared with other treatments. Numbers of Anacharis zealandica (Hymenoptera: Figitidae) (a parasitoid of larvae of the predatory brown lacewing) did not differ between treatments. 6 In the laboratory, flowering buckwheat and alyssum enhanced D. tasmanica longevity by up to 78% compared with the control, and buckwheat also enhanced potential fecundity by 62%. 7 In choice experiments, leafroller larvae in the laboratory consumed more than three-fold more apple leaf material than they did of the three understorey species, although alyssum increased leafroller fecundity and longevity. 8 The use of floral understoreys for conservation biocontrol of apple pests is discussed, along with the potential negative effects of some flowering species on pest populations and orchard agronomic practices

    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
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