On research efficiency: A micro-analysis of Dutch university research in Economics and Business Management

We argue that efficiency assessments of academic research should focus on micro-units of research production rather than on conventionally employed (aggregated) macro-units, and show that such a detailed analysis of research performance provides interesting insights. In addition, we propose a non-parametric methodology that is specially tailored for analyzing the productive efficiency of research: it starts from a specification of the managerial objectives of research activities while imposing minimal structure on the (typically unknown) production technology. We illustrate our points by assessing the productive efficiency of research in Economics and Business Management Faculties of Dutch universities. Next to measuring productive efficiency, we look for specific patterns in efficiency distributions over universities, years and areas of specialization. In addition, we investigate the impact of external funding and the size of research programs on academic research efficiency. We argue that our analysis has some interesting policy implications. Most notably, our results show that a micro-analysis of research efficiency may yield a more effective allocation of the limited financial resources that are available.     

The inverse trochoid problem

If a circle in the plane is to roll along a track so that a given point on the circle traces out another circle, what must the shape of the track be? In this paper we give a full answer to this question. This question arises in the design of internal combustion engines and other machines. It is a sort of inverse problem to the classical problem of the trajectories of points on circles rolling inside other circles; the problem whose solution is hypocycloids and hypotrochoids. We derive a system of nonlinear differential equations for the coordinates of the track regarded as a parametric curve. We express the solution of this differential equation in terms of an elliptic integral. We establish the uniqueness of this solution for a given choice of the relevant parameters, the radius of the circle to be traced out and the location on the rolling circle of the tracing point. We show that if we allow the rolling circle to intersect the track, there is at least one track for any circle. We find all possible tracks, and we derive formulas to determine, for a given radius of the circle to be traced out, how many different tracks produce circles of that radius; there is always a finite number, and the number increases roughly linearly with the radius. We characterize those tracks that are mathematical solutions but are not practical physical solutions; tracks that the rolling circle intersects in such a way that it would get stuck.     

The diffusion of moisture in sorbent solids part II. activated alumina

Ordinary and thermal diffusion of moisture in activated alumina are investigated using a new diffusion cell design and scheme of analysis reported earlier. The specific form of the mass flux equation has a pronounced effect on the magnitude of the associated thermal diffusion ratio. In the case of activated alumina-moist air, if a partial pressure gradient is used, then the thermal diffusion term is small if not zero.Free, Knudsen and surface diffusion all play a part in the diffusion through activated alumina. However, surface diffusion makes the major contribution and for this reason the model in this case can be simplified to a two parameter surface model.The activation energy for surface diffusion is constant and is approximately equal to the mean isosteric heat of absorption. In addition, mean pore radius, turtuosity, and other physical constants are computed from the least square fit of experimental data. Furthermore, the model is theoretically consistent over the entire concentration range (0≦ C_A ≦ C_Asat).A new fact about activated alumina (Grade F1) it that it does not transfer moisture in a nonisothermal condition so long as the partial pressures of moisture on the two sides of the pellet are the same. There appears to be no previous report of this fact in the periodical literature.     

Ideal type-II Weyl points in topological circuits

Weyl points (WPs), nodal degenerate points in three-dimensional (3D) momentum space, are said to be ‘ideal’ if they are symmetry-related and well-separated, and reside at the same energy and far from nontopological bands. Although type-II WPs have unique spectral characteristics compared with type-I counterparts, ideal type-II WPs have not yet been reported because of a lack of an experimental platform with enough flexibility to produce strongly tilted dispersion bands. Here, we experimentally realize a topological circuit that hosts only topological bands with a minimal number of four ideal type-II WPs. By stacking two-dimensional (2D) layers of inductor-capacitor (LC) resonator dimers with the broken parity inversion symmetry (P), we achieve a strongly tilted band structure with two group velocities in the same direction, and topological surface states in an incomplete bandgap. Our results establish an ideal system for the further study of Weyl physics and other exotic topological phenomena.     

Optimal complexity of deployable compressive structures

The usual use of fractals involves self-similar geometrical objects to fill a space, where the self-similar iterations may continue ad infinitum. This is the first paper to propose the use of self-similar mechanical objects that fill an alloted space, while achieving an invariance property as the self-similar iterations continue (e.g. invariant strength). Moreover, for compressive loads, this paper shows how to achieve minimal mass and invariant strength from self-similar structures. The topology optimization procedure uses self-similar iteration until minimal mass is achieved, and this problem is completely solved, with global optimal solutions given in closed form. The optimal topology remains independent of the magnitude of the load. Mass is minimized subject to yield and/or buckling constraints. Formulas are also given to optimize the complexity of the structure, and the optimal complexity turns out to be finite. That is, a continuum is never the optimal structural for a compressive load under any constraints on the physical dimension (diameter). After each additional self-similar iteration, the number of bars and strings increase, but, for a certain choice of unit topology shown, the total mass of bars and strings decreases. For certain structures, the string mass monotonically increases with iteration, while the bar mass monotonically reduces, leading to minimal total mass in a finite number of iterations, and hence a finite optimal complexity for the structure. The number of iterations required to achieve minimal mass is given explicitly in closed form by a formula relating the chosen unit geometry and the material properties. It runs out that the optimal structures produced by our theory fall in the category of structures we call tensegrity. Hence our self-similar algorithms can generate tensegrity fractals.     

Relations between the shape of a size-frequency distribution and the shape of a rank-frequency distribution

We study the dependence of the shape of the rank-frequency distribution g on the shape of the size-frequency distribution f and vice versa. We show mathematically that g is convexly decreasing if and only if f is monotonically decreasing and that g has an S-shape (i.e., g is first convexly decreasing and then concavely decreasing) if and only if f is first increasing and then decreasing.     

On the intrinsic value of information objects and the infosphere

What is the most general common set ofattributes that characterises something asintrinsically valuableand hence as subject to some moral respect, andwithout which something would rightly beconsidered intrinsically worthless or even positivelyunworthy and therefore rightly to bedisrespected in itself? Thispaper develops and supports the thesis that theminimal condition of possibility of an entity'sleast intrinsic value is to be identified with itsontological status as an information object.All entities, even when interpreted as only clusters ofinformation, still have a minimal moral worthqua information objects and so may deserve to be respected. Thepaper is organised into four main sections.Section 1 models moral action as an information systemusing the object-oriented programmingmethodology (OOP). Section 2 addresses the question of whatrole the several components constituting themoral system can have in an ethical analysis. If theycan play only an instrumental role, thenComputer Ethics (CE) is probably bound to remain at most apractical, field-dependent, applied orprofessional ethics. However, Computer Ethics can give rise to amacroethical approach, namely InformationEthics (IE), if one can show that ethical concern should beextended to include not only human, animal orbiological entities, but also information objects. Thefollowing two sections show how this minimalistlevel of analysis can be achieved. Section 3 provides anaxiological analysis of information objects. Itcriticises the Kantian approach to the concept ofintrinsic value and shows that it can beimproved by using the methodology introduced in the first section.The solution of the Kantian problem prompts thereformulation of the key question concerningthe moral worth of an entity: what is theintrinsic value of x qua an object constituted by itsinherited attributes? In answering thisquestion, it is argued that entitiescan share different observable propertiesdepending on the level of abstraction adopted,and that it is still possible to speak of moral value even at thehighest level of ontological abstractionrepresented by the informational analysis. Section 4 develops aminimalist axiology based on the concept ofinformation object. It further supports IE's position byaddressing five objections that may undermineits acceptability.     

Mathematical study of h-index sequences

This paper studies mathematical properties of h-index sequences as developed by Liang [Liang, L. (2006). h-Index sequence and h-index matrix: Constructions and applications. Scientometrics,69(1), 153–159]. For practical reasons, Liming studies such sequences where the time goes backwards while it is more logical to use the time going forward (real career periods). Both type of h-index sequences are studied here and their interrelations are revealed. We show cases where these sequences are convex, linear and concave. We also show that, when one of the sequences is convex then the other one is concave, showing that the reverse-time sequence, in general, cannot be used to derive similar properties of the (difficult to obtain) forward time sequence. We show that both sequences are the same if and only if the author produces the same number of papers per year. If the author produces an increasing number of papers per year, then Liang’s h-sequences are above the “normal” ones. All these results are also valid for g- and R-sequences. The results are confirmed by the h-, g- and R-sequences (forward and reverse time) of the author.     

Mapping the mix: Linking instruments,settings and target groups in the study of policy mixes

This article proposes the extension of a conceptual framework aimed at analysing policy mixes and their outcomes and demonstrates its value added for the study of sustainability transitions. The argument is that policy mixes research should not focus only on the form of policy instruments, but also on their implementation context. Policy mix form designates the specific policy instruments that are involved according to a policy strategy. Policy mix context includes the specific setting where each policy measure is implemented, such as enterprise or family. It also includes the specific target group of each measure, such as youth or smokers. We apply this conceptual framework to the policy concept and implementation of tobacco control policies in Switzerland, which are an exemplary case for analysing transitions as they are geared towards behavioural change. In a mixed method approach, we triangulate different sets of quantitative and qualitative indicators in order to assess the implementation of eleven subnational policy mixes. Our findings show that taking into account the moderating role of settings between policy instruments and target groups allows for a more in depth analysis of policy processes. Observing the interactions between the four elements policy instruments, policy strategy, the implementation settings and the target groups allows capturing the complexity of policy mixes, at the crossroads of policy design, policy implementation and policy outcomes. Taking implementation settings and target groups into account in the analysis of policy mixes allows for a refined understanding of policy compliance and thus, from a broader perspective, of sustainability transitions.     

Applying semantic knowledge to the automatic processing of temporal expressions and events in natural language

This paper addresses the problem of the automatic recognition and classification of temporal expressions and events in human language. Efficacy in these tasks is crucial if the broader task of temporal information processing is to be successfully performed. We analyze whether the application of semantic knowledge to these tasks improves the performance of current approaches. We therefore present and evaluate a data-driven approach as part of a system: TIPSem. Our approach uses lexical semantics and semantic roles as additional information to extend classical approaches which are principally based on morphosyntax. The results obtained for English show that semantic knowledge aids in temporal expression and event recognition, achieving an error reduction of 59% and 21%, while in classification the contribution is limited. From the analysis of the results it may be concluded that the application of semantic knowledge leads to more general models and aids in the recognition of temporal entities that are ambiguous at shallower language analysis levels. We also discovered that lexical semantics and semantic roles have complementary advantages, and that it is useful to combine them. Finally, we carried out the same analysis for Spanish. The results obtained show comparable advantages. This supports the hypothesis that applying the proposed semantic knowledge may be useful for different languages.     

The tipping point: F-score as a function of the number of retrieved items

One of the best known measures of information retrieval (IR) performance is the F-score, the harmonic mean of precision and recall. In this article we show that the curve of the F-score as a function of the number of retrieved items is always of the same shape: a fast concave increase to a maximum, followed by a slow decrease. In other words, there exists a single maximum, referred to as the tipping point, where the retrieval situation is ‘ideal’ in terms of the F-score. The tipping point thus indicates the optimal number of items to be retrieved, with more or less items resulting in a lower F-score. This empirical result is found in IR and link prediction experiments and can be partially explained theoretically, expanding on earlier results by Egghe. We discuss the implications and argue that, when comparing F-scores, one should compare the F-score curves’ tipping points.     

Minding the communications gap: How can universities signal the availability and value of their scientific knowledge to commercial organizations?

We posit that a communications gap exists between universities and commercial organizations, attributed to their idiosyncratic goals, interests, and incentives. To bridge this gap, universities need to recognize and leverage observable differences in the strength of signals and the width of channels used to disseminate their scientific knowledge externally. We explore these ideas by analyzing knowledge dissemination and academic engagement activities in 133 UK universities in the period 2011–2019. Our analysis shows that universities with a lower scientific impact have a higher intensity of collaborative research, contract research, and consultancy activities if they communicate that impact through more prominent scientific outlets. In turn, universities with a higher scientific impact have a lower intensity of interaction with commercial organizations if they communicate their scientific impact through less prominent scientific outlets. We further reveal that universities with a higher economic impact show a higher intensity of collaborative research. At the same time, we find no evidence that the social impact generated by universities is linked to the intensity of university-industry interaction, no matter the channels through which that impact is communicated. Using these findings, we draw implications for practice and policy.     

Management innovation through standardization: Consultants as standardizers of organizational practice

Management innovation and the consultants who promote and support it are both typically associated with the ‘new’, with departures from the norm and from standard approaches. Indeed, standardization is often seen as an impediment to innovation, especially in the current ‘post-bureaucratic’ era. This article challenges such a view, arguing that consultant-led management innovation is often highly standardized. Based upon qualitative research into internal consultancy in large business organizations, both standardizing agendas and standardized methods are identified from a range of consultant-led management innovation programs. The analysis then points to some of the structural and cultural features of organizations that lead to managers favouring incremental, standardized approaches to change, even if these are often contested. In conclusion, the article points to the need to consider a range of different dimensions in the relationship between standardization and management innovation.     

Controllability and extensions

Control problems in Hilbert spaces are treated in a measure-theoretical framework; instead of dealing with a set of admissible trajectory-control pairs, a set of measures defined by the boundary conditions and the differential equations of the problem are considered. The concept of weak controllability is introduced; a system has this property if every pair of initial and final points, (t_a,x_a) and (t_b,x_b) can be weakly joined; this is possible if a set of linear equalities involving measures has a solution. In turn, this is shown to be equivalent to the possibility of extending a linear functional in a positive manner. Necessary and sufficient conditions for controllability are derived, and applied to the study of a finite-dimensional system with the control appearing linearly.     

Automatic building of new Field Association word candidates using search engine

With increasing popularity of the Internet and tremendous amount of on-line text, automatic document classification is important for organizing huge amounts of data. Readers can know the subject of many document fields by reading only some specific Field Association (FA) words. Document fields can be decided efficiently if there are many FA words and if the frequency rate is high. This paper proposes a method for automatically building new FA words. A WWW search engine is used to extract FA word candidates from document corpora. New FA word candidates in each field are automatically compared with previously determined FA words. Then new FA words are appended to an FA word dictionary. From the experiential results, our new system can automatically appended around 44% of new FA words to the existence FA word dictionary. Moreover, the concentration ratio 0.9 is also effective for extracting relevant FA words that needed for the system design to build FA words automatically.     

Efficient phrase querying with common phrase index

In this paper, we propose a common phrase index as an efficient index structure to support phrase queries in a very large text database. Our structure is an extension of previous index structures for phrases and achieves better query efficiency with modest extra storage cost. Further improvement in efficiency can be attained by implementing our index according to our observation of the dynamic nature of common word set. In experimental evaluation, a common phrase index using 255 common words has an improvement of about 11% and 62% in query time for the overall and large queries (queries of long phrases) respectively over an auxiliary nextword index. Moreover, it has only about 19% extra storage cost. Compared with an inverted index, our improvement is about 72% and 87% for the overall and large queries respectively. We also propose to implement a common phrase index with dynamic update feature. Our experiments show that more improvement in time efficiency can be achieved.     

Microfluidic study of the chemotactic response of Escherichia coli to amino acids,signaling molecules and secondary metabolites

Quorum sensing and chemotaxis both affect bacterial behavior on the population level. Chemotaxis shapes the spatial distribution of cells, while quorum sensing realizes a cell-density dependent gene regulation. An interesting question is if these mechanisms interact on some level: Does quorum sensing, a density dependent process, affect cell density itself via chemotaxis? Since quorum sensing often spans across species, such a feedback mechanism may also exist between multiple species. We constructed a microfluidic platform to study these questions. A flow-free, stable linear chemical gradient is formed in our device within a few minutes that makes it suitable for sensitive testing of chemoeffectors: we showed that the amino acid lysine is a weak chemoattractant for Escherichia coli, while arginine is neutral. We studied the effect of quorum sensing signal molecules of Pseudomonas aeruginosa on E. coli chemotaxis. Our results show that N-(3-oxododecanoyl)-homoserine lactone (oxo-C12-HSL) and N-(butryl)-homoserine lactone (C4-HSL) are attractants. Furthermore, we tested the chemoeffector potential of pyocyanin and pyoverdine, secondary metabolites under a quorum sensing control. Pyocyanin is proved to be a weak attractant while pyoverdine are repellent. We demonstrated the usability of the device in co-culturing experiments, where we showed that various factors released by P. aeruginosa affect the dynamic spatial rearrangement of a neighboring E. coli population, while surface adhesion of the cells is also modulated.     

Some properties of submatrices in a solution to the matrix equation AXB=C with applications

Suppose that AXB=C is a consistent matrix equation and partition its solution X into a 2×2 block form. In this article we give some formulas for the maximal and minimal ranks of the submatrices in a solution X to AXB=C. From these formulas, we derive necessary and sufficient conditions for the submatrices to be zero and nonsingular, respectively. As applications, we give a group of formulas for the maximal and minimal ranks of submatrices in generalized inverses of matrices and their properties.