Neuroses of the stomach: eating, gender, and psychopathology in French medicine, 1800-1870

In the period 1800-1870, French physicians approached psychic illness (Philippe Pinel's "neurosis") within competing "cerebralist" and "visceralist" frameworks. Cerebralism, which dominated the specialty of mental medicine, sought the origins of psychic illness in lesions of the brain and central nervous system. "Visceralism," upheld by generalists, clung to the view of the ancients that psychic disorder was seated in the abdominal viscera. The distinction enjoyed credibility thanks to widespread acceptance of Xavier Bichat's "two lives" doctrine, which demarcated functions of the central and the "vegetative" nervous systems. Once the "two lives" conception was undercut after midcentury, cerebralists sought to draw disturbances of appetite, digestion, and eating within the domain of the central nervous system. This essay suggests that historical study of "hysterical anorexia" and related disease entities that displaced "neuroses of the stomach" has overemphasized sociocultural determinants to the neglect of the internal dynamics of biomedical science.     

Acquiring unpublished population documents in Africa: a personal experience

Acquiring both published and unpublished documents produced in Africa is, generally, a difficult task due to the existing poor state of bibliographic control and the publishing industry. It is even more difficult to obtain unpublished documents in a specialized area of study such as demography--a diffuse area which cuts across several disciplines. This paper discusses the problems encountered on acquisition trips to some African countries to acquire unpublished population material. To help solve the problems, the Population Association of Africa must persuade its members to send copies of their publications to population libraries and documentation centers in their individual countries for dissemination to the other users in Africa. The various organizations and institutions in Africa engaged in the teaching and research of population studies should have an agreement to exchange copies of their theses. The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) should make representations to the various African member countries on the need to disseminate the results of vital censuses and surveys conducted. Finally, the Population Information Network for Africa (POPIN-AFRICA) with its coordinating unit at the population division of ECA should ensure that all the nodes of the network have the financial and other resources to be able to acquire the relevant documents needed for their operations.     

Appreciated abroad, depreciated at home. The career of a radiochemist in Norway: Ellen Gleditsch (1879-1968)

Ellen Gleditsch (1879-1968) became Norway's first authority on radioactivity and the country's second female full professor. From her many years abroad--in Marie Curie's laboratory in Paris and at Yale University in New Haven with Bertram Boltram--she became internationally acknowledged and developed an extensive personal and scientific network. In the Norwegian scientific community she was, however, less appreciated, and her appointment as a professor in 1929 caused controversy. Despite the recommendation of the expert committee, her predecessor and his allies spread the view that Gleditsch was a diligent but outdated researcher with little scientific promise-a view that apparently persists in the Norwegian chemical community today. In addition to her scientific work, Gleditsch acquired political influence by joining the International Federation of University Women in 1920; she later became the president of both the Norwegian section and the worldwide organization. She worked in particular to establish scholarships enabling women to go abroad.     

The employment impact of product innovations in sub-Saharan Africa: Firm-level evidence

Innovation has become a key interest in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), as it is argued to be pervasive, and plays an eminent role in generating employment. There is, however, a dearth of empirical evidence assessing the impact of innovation on firm employment for SSA. This paper investigates the impact of product innovations on job creation using data from the recent waves of the Enterprise Survey merged with Innovation Follow-Up Survey for SSA countries for which both surveys are available. We apply the Dose Response Model under continuous and heterogeneous responses to treatment. The results reveal a positive impact of product innovations on total employment. This result is, however, found to hold only at specific intervals of product innovation intensities. Our analyses also show that product innovations tend to create both temporary and permanent jobs as well as skilled and unskilled jobs. However, the positive impact of product innovations on temporary and unskilled employment tends to outweigh that of permanent and skilled employment, raising questions about the security and quality of the new jobs generated by product innovations.     

Some aspects of regional-national scientific relationships in East Africa: a summary

This study of some aspects of regional-national scientific relationships in East Africa focuses on the interplay between the East African Agricultural and Forestry Research Organization (EAAFRO) of the East African Community (EAC) and the national agricultural and forestry research systems of the Partner States which make up the Community - Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Recently, regional (in the multi-national sense) cooperation or integration has increasingly been proposed as one way in which small developing countries can utilize their scarce resources in a more effective and efficient manner and thus develop faster. Despite the seeming logic and rationality behind these arguments, however, most attempts to date have either failed or have not lived up to expectations. The first major section of this study covered two exercises. In one, a methodology for ‘objectively’ measuring the direct benefits from EAAFRO and determining how they were distributed among the Partner States was developed and utilized. In the second exercise, a transaction analysis was attempted which covered the professional visits of EAAFRO officers to locations in the Partner States and of visits of national-level representatives to EAAFRO headquarters. The results were then related to distance and national borders in an attempt to see what factors might be influencing these transaction patterns. The second major section of this study focused on the individual national researcher in all Partner States. The primary dependent variable investigated was his general opinion toward EAAFRO, and a set of hypothesized relationships was tested to try and explain that opinion. Independent variables tested included benefits from EAAFRO, opinions toward the EAC, the opinions of relevant national groups toward EAAFRO, proximity to EAAFRO, knowledge about EAAFRO, the race of the national researcher, the extent of personal contact transactions, and the extent to which EAAFRO's work complemented that of the national researcher.     

Aggressively pursuing knowledge management over 2 years: a case study at a US government organization

As the US federal civilian workforce is ‘graying’, knowledge management (KM) can play a critical role in the strategic management of human capital in a government organization. KM should probably be a key pillar of the human capital strategy, along with competency management, performance management, and change management. Even though the need is great for knowledge management in government organizations, many of these agencies do not have a clear vision or strategy as to how to implement KM in their organization. To help those in the federal sector in implementing KM, this paper will discuss components of the knowledge management implementation plan at a leading US government organization (using GOV as the pseudonym) following a KM pyramid framework.     

Science,technology and innovation studies at a crossroad: SPRU as case study

The setting up of the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at Sussex University 50 years ago represented a “transformative change” in the research on science policy and the understanding of the nature and origin of technological change and innovation studies. It influenced policymakers across the world in both the mature Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries and the developing world. It made the topic of science, technology and innovation (STI) familiar to business studies scholars. Today though, the analysis of STI appears to be somewhat in crisis. On the one hand, there is growing evidence that the growth and welfare gains of new technologies and innovation are no longer forthcoming in an automatic “trickle-down” fashion. The knowledge and technology diffusion “machine” appears broken. On the other hand, there are growing environmental concerns about the negative externalities of unsustainable fossil-fuel-based growth as industrialization spreads across the globe. STI policy appears somehow stuck in an industrial efficiency and consumerism mode that is unable to address in a satisfactory way the impact of such negative externalities. Can the broader historical approach as popularized within the so-called Science and Technology Studies (STS) tradition provide additional, complementary insights? Yes, if STI and STS scholars are prepared to leave their respective conceptual comfort zones and address in complementary fashion some of the major societal policy challenges confronting science, technology and innovation policy today.     

Innovation and productivity in developing countries: A study of Argentine manufacturing firms’ behavior (1992-2001)

Following the methodology employed in studies for industrialized countries and using panel data from innovation surveys in Argentina with information for 1992-2001, this paper contributes to the nascent literature that analyzes the determinants of innovative inputs and outputs and their impacts on manufacturing firms’ productivity in developing countries. The econometric results show that in house R&D and technology acquisition expenditures have positive payoffs in terms of enhanced probability of introducing new products and/or processes to the market. In turn, innovators attain higher productivity levels than non-innovators. The results also show that large firms have a higher probability of engaging in innovation activities and of becoming innovators.     

The emergence of toxicogenomics: a case study of molecularization

This paper described the efforts of scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and their allies in the National Toxicology Program to molecularize toxicology by fostering the emergence of a new discipline: toxicogenomics. I demonstrate that the molecularization of toxicology at the NIEHS began in a process of 'co-construction'. However, the subsequent emergence of the discipline of toxicogenomics has required the deliberate development of communication across the myriad disciplines necessary to produce toxicogenomic knowledge; articulation of emergent forms, standards, and practices with extant ones; management of the tensions generated by grounding toxicogenomics in traditional toxicological standards and work practices even it transforms those standards and practices; and identification and stabilization of roles for toxicogenomic knowledge in markets and service sites, such as environmental health risk assessment and regulation. This paper describes the technological, institutional, and inter-sectoral strategies that scientists have pursued in order to meet these challenges. In so doing, this analysis offers a vista into both the means and meanings of molecularization.     

How to design the master data architecture: Findings from a case study at Bosch

Master data management (MDM) is a topic of increasing prominence both in the scientific and in the practitioners’ information systems (IS) community. As a prerequisite for meeting strategic business requirements, such as compliance with regulations, business integration, or integrated customer management, MDM comprises numerous activities. One of the central activities is designing and maintaining the master data architecture. Interestingly, though, the scientific community has remained almost silent with regard to the question as to how companies should proceed when designing the master data architecture. In order to shed light on this unexplored topic, the paper at hand presents the findings of a case study at Bosch Group. The case study shows that designing the master data architecture is a multidimensional task which requires balancing the interests of various organizational stakeholders, managing an array of technical opportunities, and meeting requirements of numerous master data classes. Also, the case study suggests that taking advantage of architectural design patterns may be an appropriate way to adequately address the complexity of the task.     

The applicability of universal pragmatics in information retrieval interaction: a pilot study

This article discusses the possibility and usefulness of applying Habermas' universal pragmatics to analyze information retrieval interaction. The first part of the article is theoretical argumentation. It examines the current common schemes of studies of human computer interaction (HCI), inspects their appropriateness and limitations, argues for a pragmatic perspective, and elaborates some of Habermas' idea of universal pragmatics. The second part is a case study. It reports an investigation of the initiation and development of verification of validity claims in HCI from the universal pragmatics perspective. It describes some patterns in which a user deals with what may be considered as invalid claims of an IR system outputs. A typical sequence consists of the following pattern: (1) user invokes a simple request; (2) system replies with a questionable answer; leading to (3) user tries to verify the validity claims of truth, truthfulness, and/or rightness of the system output; and (4) when the available interaction channels cannot support the validation, the interaction becomes a non-communicative process which discourages further interaction.     

西方技术认知的发展历程：从边缘走向中心

技术与人类社会相始终,人在本质上也是一种技术性存在。自从人类进入文明社会以来,人们就没有停止过对技术的思考。然而,技术在西方的认知中却经历了一个从边缘到中心的发展历程。西方文明的早期,技术基本上处于哲学认知的边缘;中世纪,技术继续处于被遗忘的角落;从近代开始,技术逐渐受到有意识的关注;19世纪,技术开始进入哲学认知的殿堂;现代,技术逐渐成为哲学的主要问题,成了人们认知的中心。     

R&D, innovation and microeconomic growth: a case study

Although Rollei's camera sales grew as a result of postwar increases in income, its traditional product lines came under competitive pressure in international markets in the mid-1950s from lower-priced Japanese cameras of the same type, and from the newly-developed 35mm camera. By 1964, Rollei's sales and exports were stagnating and profits had disappeared. However, the policy of new management began in 1965 to widen and renew the company's product range through a vigorous programme of R&D, and a strong marketing effort. By 1971, 84% of Rollei's sales were products which had not existed in 1965, and these new products enabled Rollei to remain competitive in the critically important export market.     

创新创业：政策分析框架与案例研究

“创新创业”作为推动未来技术和产业变革的重要方式,引发了关于政策理论构建和实践探索的新思考。本文回顾了当前创新创业政策的研究现状,从技术和市场两个视角定义了“创新创业”,从“政策资源-利益相关者-发展阶段”三个维度构建了创新创业政策分析框架,并以此框架分析了《关于推动创新创业高质量发展打造“双创”升级版的意见》。研究发现：(1)“创新创业”是“基于创新的创业”,既强调新兴技术迭代创新、商业模式创新和政府管理创新,也强调满足当前市场需求或创造未来市场需求。创新创业兼具技术和市场的双重不确定性,前者对创业者把握技术发展趋势的能力提出更高的要求,后者对创业者承担双重不确定性引发的创业风险的能力提出更高的要求。(2)创新创业的政策资源主要包括人才、财税、金融、孵化服务、公共服务,利益相关者主要包括创新创业者和创新创业企业、政府部门、高校和科研机构、金融机构、创新创业服务机构以及大中型企业,发展阶段分为孵化初创期、成长发展期。(3)“双创升级版”政策充分考虑了创新创业的阶段性特征和特定利益相关者需求,其中政府采购等财税政策对创新创业的支持力度较大。本文提出以下政策启示：一是创新创业是高水平创新人...     

The multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA): a case study in European collaboration

The MRCA is being developed by a consortium of British, German and Italian industries. The respective governments supporting the project embarked on it with various economic, political and social objectives in mind. These objectives could only be resolved by a succession of compromises, some of which have proved to be to the detriment of the project.The participating aircraft industries set out to succeed where others had failed; to produce a variable-geometry multi-role aircraft at reasonable cost. The attraction of such an aircraft lies in the possibility of constructing a common structure which can be adapted, without too much extra expense, to carry out various strategic roles. But there are technological hazards to be overcome; the mechanism has to be unusually complicated, a high degree of innovation is demanded, and particular attention has to be paid to the problem of reliability.Considerable technical uncertainty surrounds the MRCA programme, especially with respect to the wing-joints. This uncertainty has been heightened by the unsatisfactory manner in which the development has been divided between the participating countries. The dispersion of engineering between Edinburgh and Turin leads to technological inefficiencies and to severe problems of communication.The Panavia organization was set up with the purpose of keeping the programme under close surveillance and control. Multi-national committees make the decisions. The organization is noted for its bureaucratic procedures and for its inflexibility; deviations from the pre-ordained plan cause considerable expense, delay and dislocation. The collaboration was expected to secure a large market for the aircraft. However, orders have fallen since the beginning of the programme, and further reductions are to be expected. As orders fall, the unit cost of the final product rises. It seems likely that the aircraft will be considerably more expensive than initially predicted.Many of the deficiencies of the MRCA project are evident in other joint programmes, military and civilian. It is concluded that collaboration is inherently an inefficient and uneconomic means of developing aircraft.     

Internationalization of corporate R&D: a study of Japanese and Swedish corporations

Based on a questionnaire survey of large corporations in Japan and Sweden, representing chemical, electronic and mechanical engineering sectors, this paper probes three research issues: (1) the level, pace and possible nation-specific mode of internationalization of R&D, (2) the relative roles of demand and supply side factors, and (3) the possible internationalization of industry–university collaborations. The results show a general growth of international R&D across sectors and countries and a particular Japanese mode of internationalization of R&D with a high pace although starting from lower levels, a strong supply-led component, and a strong emphasis on collaborations with US universities. The concept of psychic distance was found to be of limited relevance as an explanatory concept. The paper argues that due to, e.g., technology diversification and emerging technology market conditions, internationalization of R&D will in general become increasingly supply-led, and as industry–university collaborations internationalize, competitive US universities will become increasingly important and internationalize themselves, some conceivably becoming genuine multinational universities.     

Knowledge sharing in a multi-cultural setting: a case study

Organizational culture has been shown to influence the success of knowledge management practices. Hofstede's theory specifies that organizational culture is not independent of national culture. A case study of an international subsidiary was conducted to explore the extent to which knowledge sharing is dependent on national culture. Results indicate that language differences can create knowledge blocks, and cross-cultural differences can explain the direction of knowledge flows.