Are ideas being fished out?

This paper examines whether declining research productivity can be explained by fishing out—is the production of new knowledge decreasing in the level of existing knowledge? We estimate the knowledge production function for US firms and find instead that knowledge production is increasing in the knowledge stock. This is reinforced by the observations that maximum research productivity across firms is increasing over time, and that research productivity year effects continue to exhibit decline after modeling contributions from knowledge and research labor. Given that fishing out appears unable to explain the decline in research productivity, we offer preliminary evidence of contingent factors that might contribute to the decline.     

Dispersed Elements Could Also be Concentrated to Form Independent Deposits

A research team headed byProf. Tu Guangzhi at theCAS Institute of Geochem-istry has completed a project on theenrichment mechanism of dispersedelements. Their finding that dis-persed elements could be concen-trated under certain circumstancesto form independent deposits hasbeen well received by an evaluationpanel organized by the Science andTechnology Bureau of GuizhouProvince.At a meeting on July 15, thepanel said the finding has laid a solidfoundation for further studies of thegeochemis…     

Could light meal jeopardize laboratory coagulation tests?

Background:

Presently the necessity of fasting time for coagulation tests is not standardized. Our hypothesis is that this can harm patient safety. This study is aimed at evaluating whether a light meal (i.e. breakfast) can jeopardize laboratory coagulation tests.

Materials and methods:

A blood sample was firstly collected from 17 fasting volunteers (12 h). Immediately after blood collection, the volunteers consumed a light meal. Then samples were collected at 1, 2 and 4 h after the meal. Coagulation tests included: activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), prothrombin time (PT), fibrinogen (Fbg), antithrombin III (AT), protein C (PC) and protein S (PS). Differences between samples were assessed by Wilcoxon ranked-pairs test. The level of statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Mean % differences were determined and differences between and baseline and 1, 2 and 4h samples were compared with reference change value (RCV).

Results:

A significantly higher % activity of AT was observed at 1 h and 4 h after meal vs. baseline specimen [113 (104–117) and 111 (107–120) vs. 109 (102–118), respectively; P = 0.029 and P = 0.016]. APTT at 2 h was found significantly lower than baseline samples [32.0 (29.9–34.8) vs. 34.1 (32.2–35.2), respectively; P = 0.041]. The results of both Fbg and PS tests were not influenced by a light meal. Furthermore, no coagulation tests had significant variation after comparison with RCV.

Conclusion:

A light meal does not influence the laboratory coagulation tests we assessed, but we suggest that the laboratory quality managers standardize the fasting time for all blood tests at 12 hours, to completely metabolize the lipids intake.     

Could machine learning be a general purpose technology? A comparison of emerging technologies using data from online job postings

Many emerging technologies have aspects of General Purpose Technologies (GPTs). However, true GPTs are rare and hold potential for large-scale economic impact. Thus, it is important for policymakers and managers to assess which emerging technologies are likely GPTs. We describe an approach that uses data from online job ads to rank emerging technologies on their GPT likelihood. The approach suggests which technologies are likely to have a broader economic impact, and which are likely to remain useful but narrower enabling technologies. Our approach has at least 5 years predictive power distinct from prevailing patent-based methods of identifying GPTs. We apply our approach to 21 different emerging technologies, and find that a cluster of technologies comprised of machine learning and related data science technologies is relatively likely to be a GPT.     

Suppliers versus start-ups: Where do better innovation ideas come from?

In the innovation process of firms, suppliers increasingly play a key role as external sources of ideas. Although the beneficial impact of supplier integration has been acknowledged, there is also evidence that not all such innovation efforts are successful, particularly regarding the identification of truly innovative solutions. Therefore, in recent years, large firms have begun to move beyond their existing supply base, drawing on innovation ideas from start-ups, that is, with young firms with whom they have no pre-existing bonds. Yet there is no empirical evidence regarding whether start-ups’ ideas actually outperform those of established suppliers. We address this question by presenting a unique, real-world comparison of 314 supplier and start-up ideas – ideas that were identified, evaluated, and followed up over the course of an open innovation initiative conducted by a large automotive manufacturer. We find that start-ups’ ideas are characterized by a higher degree of novelty and to some extent higher benefit for end customers but, on the downside, are less likely to be implemented than suppliers’ ideas. Overall, our study adds new dimensions to the discourse on open innovation and provides valuable insights regarding the outcome of supplier and start-up involvement in the front end of the innovation process.     

To be or not to be franchised? A knowledge-based perspective

This paper investigates the rationale for choosing franchising rather than independent activity, arguing that this choice may be motivated by knowledge and competence considerations. We consider the franchise chain as a specific learning organizational form and explore whether this structure handles knowledge and builds competences according to an idiosyncratic pattern. Concretely, we empirically identify differences in the architecture of competences of franchised vs independent shops in the car maintenance industry in France, and analyse some causes for those differences. Thanks to in depth interviews coupled with lexical and quantitative analyses we find that franchised shops do master specific competences. However, the distinctive competences held by franchisees do not necessarily reflect franchisors’ knowledge, and are not exclusively the consequences of a shared identity in the franchise chain. We conclude that the development of franchise cannot be explained by competence-related arguments only, knowledge and competences being managed in distinctive ways within different franchising networks.     

Should autonomous robots be pacifists?

Currently, the central questions in the philosophical debate surrounding the ethics of automated warfare are (1) Is the development and use of autonomous lethal robotic systems for military purposes consistent with (existing) international laws of war and received just war theory?; and (2) does the creation and use of such machines improve the moral caliber of modern warfare? However, both of these approaches have significant problems, and thus we need to start exploring alternative approaches. In this paper, I ask whether autonomous robots ought to be programmed to be pacifists. The answer arrived at is “Yes”, if we decide to create autonomous robots, they ought to be pacifists. This is to say that robots ought not to be programmed to willingly and intentionally kill human beings, or, by extension, participate in or promote warfare, as something that predictably involves the killing of humans. Insofar as we are the ones that will be determining the content of the robot’s value system, then we ought to program robots to be pacifists, rather than ‘warists’. This is (in part) because we ought to be pacifists, and creating and programming machines to be “autonomous lethal robotic systems” directly violates this normative demand on us. There are no mitigating reasons to program lethal autonomous machines to contribute to or participate in warfare. Even if the use of autonomous lethal robotic systems could be consistent with received just war theory and the international laws of war, and even if their involvement could make warfare less inhumane in certain ways, these reasons do not compensate for the ubiquitous harms characteristic of modern warfare. In this paper, I provide four main reasons why autonomous robots ought to be pacifists, most of which do not depend on the truth of pacifism. The strong claim being argued for here is that automated warfare ought not to be pursued. The weaker claim being argued for here is that automated warfare ought not to be pursued, unless it is the most pacifist option available at the time, and other alternatives have been reasonably explored, and we are simultaneously promoting a (long term) pacifist agenda in (many) other ways. Thus, the more ambitious goal of this paper is to convince readers that automated warfare is something that we ought not to promote or pursue, while the more modest—and I suspect, more palatable—goal is to spark sustained critical discussion about the assumptions underlying the drive towards automated warfare, and to generate legitimate consideration of its pacifist alternatives,in theory, policy, and practice.     

Can information warfare ever be just?

The information revolution has fostered the rise of new ways of waging war, generally by means of cyberspace-based attacks on the infrastructures upon which modern societies increasingly depend. This new way of war is primarily disruptive, rather than destructive; and its low barriers to entry make it possible for individuals and groups (not just nation-states) easily to acquire very serious war-making capabilities. The less lethal appearance of information warfare and the possibility of cloaking the attacker's true identity put serious pressure on traditional just war doctrines that call for adherence to the principles of right purpose, duly constituted authority, and last resort. Age-old strictures about noncombatant immunity are also attenuated by the varied means of attack enabled by advanced information technologies. Therefore, the nations and societies leading the information revolution have a primary ethical obligation to constrain the circumstances under which information warfare may be used -- principally by means of a pledge of no first use of such means against noncombatants.     

To be or not to be in social media: How brand loyalty is affected by social media?

There is an ongoing debate over the activities of brands and companies in social media. Some researchers believe social media provide a unique opportunity for brands to foster their relationships with customers, while others believe the contrary. Taking the perspective of the brand community building plus the brand trust and loyalty literatures, our goal is to show how brand communities based on social media influence elements of the customer centric model (i.e., the relationships among focal customer and brand, product, company, and other customers) and brand loyalty. A survey-based empirical study with 441 respondents was conducted. The results of structural equation modeling show that brand communities established on social media have positive effects on customer/product, customer/brand, customer/company and customer/other customers relationships, which in turn have positive effects on brand trust, and trust has positive effects on brand loyalty. We find that brand trust has a fully mediating role in converting the effects of enhanced relationships in brand community to brand loyalty. The implications for marketing practice and future research are discussed.     

Tommy的作业——“There+be”怎么用?

星期四下午,李老师的办公室异常安静,平素乐呵呵的Tommy一副愁眉苦脸的样子,站在老师的办公桌前,头扎得很低。这是怎么一回事呢?原来,Tommy这次英文作业     

Why does the train stop halfway? The destiny should be cultural democracy

Joost Smiers is professor emeritus of Political Science of the Arts, research fellow in the Research Group Arts and Economics at the Utrecht School of the Arts in the Netherlands. He works on decision‐making in cultural matters worldwide, on new visions on copyright and the public domain, on freedom of expression versus responsibility, on cultural competition policy, on the income of artists and their entrepreneurs, on European cultural policy, on UNESCO’s Convention on Cultural Diversity, and on cultural identities.