What is protective space? Reconsidering niches in transitions to sustainability

The transitions literature emphasises the role of niches, defined as a protective space for path-breaking innovations. Surprisingly, the concept of protection has not been systematically interrogated. Our analysis identifies effective protection as having three properties in wider transition processes: shielding, nurturing and empowerment. Empowerment is considered the least developed in current niche literature. It can be understood as either processes that make niche innovations competitive within unchanged selection environments (fit-and-conform) or as processes that contribute to changes in mainstream selection environments in ways favourable to a path-breaking niche innovation (stretch-and-transform). Adopting a more constructivist perspective, we subsequently argue that analysis of these properties needs to be complemented with particular attention for the politics involved in their construction. Attention to empowerment confirms the view that niche actors need to link to wider processes of social change, and suggests how this arises. The paper ends with an outlook upon two promising research avenues: (1) the reconstruction of niche development in light of the present framework; (2) analyses of the diverse (political) narratives seeking to empower niches across time and space.     

护理本科生归因方式及归因风格的调查分析

目的:通过调查护理本科生的归因方式及归因风格,为后续相关性研究及干预提供依据。方法:采用归因方式问卷和归因风格问卷对219名护理本科生进行问卷调查。结果:归因风格总分为1.41,归因方式总分为9.06。结论:护理教育者应关注护理本科生的归因风格和归因方式,以期通过改变其归因风格和归因方式,提高其心理健康水平。     

The super-computer project: a case study of the interaction of science,government and industry in the UK

A major concern of the governments of industrialised nations is the basis for the allocation of public resources to the private sector of industry. One particular area of debate is the role governments should play in the support and direction of high technology. This paper examines the contribution of the British government to the establishment of a computer industry and, in particular, the attempts to stimulate the industry during the period 1959 to 1962 by supporting the development and production of a ‘supercomputer’.The history of the negotiations between the three major participants, the National Research and Development Corporation, Ferranti Ltd., and Manchester University, has been reconstructed in considerable detail in order to provide the basis for an analysis of the interaction of technical, financial, organisational and political constraints in the attempts to establish the project'.The failure of NRDC to achieve its broad aims of promoting the future health of the computer industry is traced to three major problems — their failure to formulate clear objectives, their concern to maintain technical control, and inadequate policies for risk-sharing. These were exacerbated by the technical uncertainty associated with novel technology, an inadequate market analysis by Ferranti, and de facto technical direction by the university department.On this basis broad conclusions are drawn on the conditions necessary for a satisfactory return on public investment in high technology.     

归因训练对英语听力焦虑的影响

目前,大学英语教育在我国受到了很大的重视,大学生的心理因素值得进一步研究。第二语言研究发现,归因是影响第二语言学习的一个重要因素,它能对学习者的动机产生积极或消极的影响。本文是关于归因训练对大学生英语听力归因风格、英语听力焦虑和英语听力成绩关系的干预研究,探讨能否通过归因训练降低学生在英语听力中产生的焦虑,提高大学生的英语听力水平。     

On the conclusive validation of symbol manipulative processes (How do you know it has to work?)

This paper discusses the ramifications of the problem of proving that the design of a symbol manipulating processor conclusively does what the designer intended. More specifically, it explores such questions as: (1) What different interpretations can be given to the expression “the intent of the process”? (2) Does the process, or should the process end? In either event, how do we prove it? (3) If the process does end, how do we prove that it does what was intended? This question may be meaningful even if the process does not end. (4) Is there a whole class of processes that stand or fall together? Can we adapt our proof of conclusiveness to cover the whole class? (5) Do the processes of the class yield the same or different results, and whichever it is, how do we prove it? The example of formal differentiation from the calculus is used to illustrate these problems; and question number four is developed in detail to illustrate the mixture of mathematical, logical, linguistic, computer science, procedural and even psychological insights involved. References are given for the methods of attack on the other questions.     

A tapered channel microfluidic device for comprehensive cell adhesion analysis, using measurements of detachment kinetics and shear stress-dependent motion

We have developed a method for studying cellular adhesion by using a custom-designed microfluidic device with parallel non-connected tapered channels. The design enables investigation of cellular responses to a large range of shear stress (ratio of 25) with a single input flow-rate. For each shear stress, a large number of cells are analyzed (500–1500 cells), providing statistically relevant data within a single experiment. Besides adhesion strength measurements, the microsystem presented in this paper enables in-depth analysis of cell detachment kinetics by real-time videomicroscopy. It offers the possibility to analyze adhesion-associated processes, such as migration or cell shape change, within the same experiment. To show the versatility of our device, we examined quantitatively cell adhesion by analyzing kinetics, adhesive strength and migration behaviour or cell shape modifications of the unicellular model cell organism Dictyostelium discoideum at 21 °C and of the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 at 37 °C. For both cell types, we found that the threshold stresses, which are necessary to detach the cells, follow lognormal distributions, and that the detachment process follows first order kinetics. In addition, for particular conditions’ cells are found to exhibit similar adhesion threshold stresses, but very different detachment kinetics, revealing the importance of dynamics analysis to fully describe cell adhesion. With its rapid implementation and potential for parallel sample processing, such microsystem offers a highly controllable platform for exploring cell adhesion characteristics in a large set of environmental conditions and cell types, and could have wide applications across cell biology, tissue engineering, and cell screening.     

A theory of firm growth: Learning capability, knowledge threshold, and patterns of growth

This paper focuses on the dual role of R&D - knowledge generation and the technological-competence-enhancing effect of R&D - and its implication for the endogenous evolution of R&D productivity and the pattern of firm growth. In particular, based on the evolution of firm-specific R&D productivity or technological competence, this paper derives a simple R&D-based model of firm growth capable of explaining various aspects of firm growth. The model proposes three prototype patterns of firm growth, depending on both firm- and industry-specific characteristics. The former includes firm-specific technological-competence-enhancing capability and the initial level of technological knowledge, and the latter includes industry-specific R&D appropriability. Specifically, firms with low technological-competence-enhancing capability tend to follow a convergent growth pattern in which firm growth gradually declines, while firms with high technological-competence-enhancing capability tend to exhibit either a sustained or a vicious growth pattern depending on the initial size of their technological knowledge stock. An empirical analysis of unique data on firm growth and technological capability provides supportive evidence for the role of technological-competence-enhancing capability in conditioning the pattern of firm growth.     

Moments generating function of the harmonic mean of two non-identical gamma random variables and its applications in wireless communications

In this paper, a closed-form expression for the moments generating function of the half-harmonic mean of two independent, not necessarily identically distributed gamma random variables with arbitrary parameters is presented. This statistical result is useful to the performance analysis of dual-hop wireless communication systems with amplify-and-forward relays in a Nakagami-m fading environment. The proposed mathematical analysis is substantiated by various numerically evaluated and computer simulation results.     

中国传统文化下组织成员的归因风格对组织行为的影响

东西方的归因风格因为文化的差异而有所不同。在个人主义文化下,西方人倾向于个体归因;中国人则在集体文化下,更倾向于在情境中解释行为。中国人倾向于把成功和失败都归因于外部、不可控因素,并且较少出现自我服务归因偏差。这些归因方式有利于组织内部的和谐,但是成功的外归因不利于成功经验的分享,失败的外归因可能存在责任逃避现象。管理者需要分析员工成败原因,引导员工正确归因,根据员工归因风格来安排适合他们的工作,并结合传统文化和国内外企业文化的优秀部分创建适合的企业文化,帮助员工合理归因,提高组织绩效。     

A prototype of an intelligent system for information retrieval: IOTA

Recent results in artificial intelligence research are of prime interest in various fields of computer science; in particular we think information retrieval may benefit from significant advances in this approach. Expert systems seem to be valuable tools for components of information retrieval systems related to semantic inference. The query component is the one we consider in this paper. IOTA is the name of the resulting prototype presented here, which is our first step toward what we call an intelligent system for information retrieval.After explaining what we mean by this concept and presenting current studies in the field, the presentation of IOTA begins with the architecture problem, that is, how to put together a declarative component, such as an expert system, and a procedural component, such as an information retrieval system. Then we detail our proposed solution, which is based on a procedural expert system acting as the general scheduler of the entire query processing. The main steps of natural language query processing are then described according to the order in which they are processed, from the initial parsing of the query to the evaluation of the answer. The distinction between expert tasks and nonexpert tasks is emphasized. The paper ends with experimental results obtained from a technical corpus, and a conclusion about current and future developments.     

Keeping plagiarism at bay—A salutary tale

This editorial examines the question of whether plagiarism may be on the increase in the social sciences and, if so, what needs to be done to keep the problem in check. It was prompted by the discovery of an alert reader in June 2007 that a 1993 paper in Research Policy appeared to have plagiarised a 1980 article in the Journal of Business. The allegation was investigated, and it was agreed by the Editors that the 1993 paper constituted a clear and serious case of plagiarism. However, the author concerned has published over 100 articles and books. Already, two other publications have been judged by the editors of the journals concerned to have plagiarised previous publications. Two more are under investigation, but the great majority of the remainder still remain to be checked. The fact that academic misconduct on this scale has gone unchecked over such a prolonged period raises serious issues about the efficacy of the processes used to police the conduct of researchers. Furthermore, the unexpected discovery that a paper by the author under investigation appears itself to have been plagiarised poses a fundamental question as to whether plagiarism may be far more common than previously assumed. The editorial concludes that a measured degree of vigilance and a greater willingness to pursue any well-founded suspicions of research misconduct are required by editors, referees, publishers and the wider academic community if the scourge of plagiarism is to be kept at bay.     

Delphi 7软件在测量不确定度分析中的应用

实验室在日常检测过程中,需要进行检测参数不确定度的评定,计算工作量大且较繁琐,通过使用Delphi 7开发测量不确定度分析软件,解决了测量不确定度的自动计算。本论文以实例展示了如何应用软件计算不确定度的计算过程。     

Foundations of technology development,innovation and competitiveness in the globalised knowledge economy

With the growth of high‐technology industries and knowledge intensive services, the pursuit of industrial competitiveness has progressed from a broad concern with the processes of industrialisation to a more focused analysis of the factors explaining cross‐national variation in the level of participation in knowledge industries. From an examination of cross‐national data, the paper develops the proposition that particular elements of the domestic science, technology and industry infrastructure—such as the stock of knowledge and competence in the economy, the capacity for learning and generation of new ideas and the capacity to commercialise new ideas—vary cross‐nationally and are related to the level of participation of a nation in knowledge intensive activities. Existing understandings of the role of the state in promoting industrial competitiveness might be expanded to incorporate an analysis of the contribution of the state through the building of competencies in science, technology and industry.     

Value,violence, and the ethics of gaming

I argue for two theses. First, many arguments against violent gaming rely on what I call the contamination thesis, drawing their conclusions by claiming that violent gaming contaminates real world interactions. I argue that this thesis is empirically and philosophically problematic. Second, I argue that rejecting the contamination thesis does not entail that all video games are morally unobjectionable. The violence within a game can be evaluated in terms of the values the game cultivates, reinforces, denigrates, or disrespects. Games which present violence in ways that disrespect objects of values are more objectionable than violent games that reinforce or cultivate those values. The resulting analysis evaluates games on a case-by-case basis and pays particular attention to the representational context of the violence.     

An application of homomorphic deconvolution to the tomographic restoration of radiographs

This paper derives an optimal homomorphic tomographic filter, to restore tomographic images of blurred radiographs, by taking into account the noise contributed by the other layers. The method is based on the homomorphic deconvolution technique, which is well-known for its performance in image restoration. A computer simulation of the procedure is presented. The results are compared with those obtained by using inverse filtering (3, IEEE Trans on Medical Imaging, Vol. 2, pp. 89–102, 1983) and Wiener filtering (4, Proc. Digitech '84). The paper shows that homomorphic filtering is a suitable and often preferable technique for the tomographic filtering of radiographs.     

量子计算机的发展现状与趋势

量子计算机是一种新型的运算工具,它具有强大的并行处理数据的能力,可解决现有计算机难以运算的数学问题,因此,它成为世界各国战略竞争的焦点。本文综述了量子计算机目前的发展状况和可扩展、可容错的量子计算机物理体系的实验研究进展,并分析了美国最近启动研制量子芯片的微型曼哈顿计划对我国构成的严峻挑战。     

In search of insights into the generation of techno-economic trends: Micro- and macro-constituencies in the microprocessor industry

In the field of technology policy, few challenges are more intriguing than understanding the nature of technical and market trends. This paper deals with this problem by using the sociotechnical constituencies approach in order to integrate the treatment of “micro”/“macro” issues — from product to industry. The case study is that of the microprocessor industry where at present a Risc (reduced instruction set computer) technology is emerging in a field where a powerful and far-from-exhausted Cisc (complex instruction set computer) technology tends to occupy almost every segment of the market. The analysis reveals how emerging product-constituencies do implement pro-active trend-creating strategies in order to establish themselves as industrial trends, and, by so doing, they simultaneously re-define the existing content of the “macro” industrial level. The study also reveals the important role of the nature and maturity of microprocessor technology in conditioning the constituency-building strategies implemented by different players. Microprocessor technology is specifically characterised as an architectural, codified-knowledge component with indirect network externalities and weak appropriability regime. Finally, the paper also highlights the potential risks of both fragmentation and complete proprietary control of technology in technological processes involving strongly competitive situations.     

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.     

Laguerre Functions in Signal Analysis and Parameter Identification

For the approximation of real functions in L₂(0, ∞) that are frequently encountered in signal analysis and parameter identification, analytical and computer studies suggest the use of Laguerre functions. Such functions can form at least locally optimal or near-optimal sets. The results are shown for continuous systems to be encouragingly flat, indicating low sensitivity to the position of the Laguerre multiple pole. Relationships to linear time-invariant discrete systems are given, using discrete Laguerre functions.