The spill-over theory reversed: The impact of regional economies on the commercialization of university science

The concept of regional technology spill-overs created by university research is one of the most enduring theories within the economic geography and innovation management fields. This article introduces an alternative perspective on academic commercialization, arguing that the quality of a university's regional environment can significantly impact a university's success in commercializing science. Recent research on university technology transfer stresses the importance of personal contacts between academic and industry scientists in driving commercialization. The social structure of the regional economy in which a university is embedded will strongly influence the density of contacts linking university scientists with individuals in industry, and through doing so, impact the density of networks through which university knowledge can be commercialized. Social network analysis is used to examine the quality of social ties linking industry and university scientists within the San Francisco and Los Angeles California biotechnology industries over the 1980–2005 period. Results support the theory that the existence of strong social networks linking inventors heightens university commercialization output. Despite similar university research endowments, universities in San Francisco have dramatically commercialization outputs than San Francisco, which is correlated with the existence of cohesive inventor networks linking industry and university scientists in this region, but not Los Angeles. Moreover, longitudinal analysis shows that the commercialization output of San Francisco universities increased substantially starting in the early 1990s, the time period in which cohesive inventor networks emerged in the region.     

Prof. Lu Yongxiang Elected IAC Co-Chair

CAS President Lu Yongxiang was elected co-chair of the InterAcademy Council (IAC) at the Fifth Annual Meeting of the IAC Board held from January 31 to February 2 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. President Lu is to succeed Prof. Goverdhan Mehta,former President of the Indian National Science Academy, to represent those from the developing world in the organization.     

首届中国版权年会在京举行

首届中国版权年会于2008年12月5日在北京开幕。本届年会以“网络环境下的版权保护及产业发展”为主题,对当前网络环境下的一系列版权问题展开交流研讨,同时,评选出2008年中国版权产业风云人物和2008年中国版权产业最具影响力企业。     

Making dollars out of DNA. The first major patent in biotechnology and the commercialization of molecular biology, 1974-1980.

In 1973-1974 Stanley N. Cohen of Stanford and Herbert W. Boyer of the University of California, San Francisco, developed a laboratory process for joining and replicating DNA from different species. In 1974 Stanford and UC applied for a patent on the recombinant DNA process; the U.S. Patent Office granted it in 1980. This essay describes how the patenting procedure was shaped by the concurrent recombinant DNA controversy, tension over the commercialization of academic biology, governmental deliberations over the regulation of genetic engineering research, and national expectations for high technology as a boost to the American economy. The essay concludes with a discussion of the patent as a turning point in the commercialization of molecular biology and a harbinger of the social and ethical issues associated with biotechnology today.     

American postdoctoral salaries do not account for growing disparities in cost of living

The National Institute of Health (NIH) sets postdoctoral (postdoc) trainee stipend levels that many American institutions and investigators use as a basis for postdoc salaries. Although salary standards are held constant across universities, the cost of living in those universities’ cities and towns vary widely. Across non-postdoc jobs, more expensive cities pay workers higher wages that scale with an increased cost of living. This work investigates the extent to which postdoc wages account for cost of living differences. More than 27,000 postdoc salaries across all US universities are analyzed alongside measures of regional differences in cost of living. We find that postdoc salaries do not account for cost of living differences, in contrast with the broader labor market in the same cities and towns. Despite a modest increase in income in high cost of living areas, real (cost of living adjusted) postdoc salaries differ by 29% ($15k 2021 USD) between the least and most expensive areas. Cities that produce greater numbers of tenure-track faculty relative to students such as Boston, New York, and San Francisco are among the most impacted by this pay disparity. The postdoc pay gap is growing and is well-positioned to incur a greater financial burden on economically disadvantaged groups and contribute to faculty hiring disparities in women and racial minorities.     

广深科技创新走廊深圳段的科技治理研究——基于与硅谷的比较分析

本文以广深科技创新走廊中的深圳与旧金山湾区的硅谷作比较研究,剖析深圳在科技创新发展中的存在问题,借鉴旧金山湾区科技创新发展的成功经验,提出广深科技创新走廊深圳段科技治理的思路,以期能为推进广深科技创新走廊跻身国际一流科技走廊给予一定的借鉴和参考。     

Matching MARC to a picture collection: Development of a computer format for medical illustrations

The national standard machine-readable bibliographic format for films was expanded and modified for use in cataloging a collection of medical illustrations at the University of California, San Francisco. SNOMED and MeSH subject terms are stored in the computer catalog records and used to produce precoordinated entry terms for an Anatomic Index and a Disease/Procedures Index to the collection.     

四大湾区科技创新发展情况比较研究

科技创新的进步推动湾区经济的发展。本文从研发投入、创新主体、创新政策、产业结构和开放式创新五个方面,对比分析和总结归纳了纽约湾区、旧金山湾区、东京湾区和粤港澳大湾区的科技创新发展情况。最后从研发支持力度、城市协同发展、创新主体合作和人才引进等方面对粤港澳大湾区科技创新体系建设提出建议。     

阅读推广研究的新趋势——2015年中国图书馆年会综述

阅读不仅是获取知识的重要方式,也是传递信息的重要手段,更是图书馆存在的重要理由。由文化部主办、中国图书馆学会等单位承办的“2015年中国图书馆年会”（2015年12月16～17日）分别从阅读推广的科学方法、顶层设计、创新案例、阅读推广人培训、彩云之旅5个方面探讨了阅读推广研究的新趋势,为构建全民阅读的“书香社会”作出了一定的探索性努力。     

Severo Ochoa and the biomedical sciences in Spain under Franco, 1959-1975

The influence of Severo Ochoa in the establishment of biochemistry and molecular biology in Spain is the central topic of this essay. From the time he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1959, Ochoa's links with Spanish scientists and top authorities in education and science became instrumental to the development of these areas in the country of his birth. Ochoa's influence is analyzed through investigation of three "events": the reception of the award in Spain and some of its immediate consequences; his role in the VIth Meeting of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies, held in Madrid in 1969; and the international scientific symposium, held in Madrid and Barcelona, that celebrated his seventieth birthday in 1975. After an account of Ochoa's biography up to 1959, analysis of these events shows that Ochoa's influence cannot be understood without taking into account the political and scientific context of its reception.     

Analysis of Modification of Liver Proteome in Diabetic Rats by 2D Electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF-MS

The uncontrolled hyperglycemia can lead to disturbances in the cell structure and functions of organs. This study was performed to analyze the “differential proteome” change in rat liver associated with diabetes mellitus in relation to effects of an anti-diabetic herb, Cynodon dactylon leaf extracts. Rats were intraperitoneally injected with alloxan (150 mg/kg/bw) and treated with C. dactylon leaf extracts (450 mg/kg/bw/day/orally). The liver proteins were subjected to proteome analysis using the advanced technologies i.e., 2D electrophoresis (2-DE) and mass spectrometry. Comparison of 2-DE protein distribution profiles among the livers from normal, alloxan-induced diabetic rats and alloxan-induced diabetic rats treated with C. dactylon leaves identified three proteins that were up-regulated in alloxan-induced diabetic rats i.e., nucleophosmin, l-xylulose reductase and carbonic anhydrase III which are known to be mainly involved in ribosome biogenesis, centrosome duplication, cell proliferation, tumor suppression, glucose metabolism, osmo-regulation, water–CO₂ balance and acid–base balance. These results help us to understand the elucidation of molecular mechanism connected to liver function and insulin associated with diabetes mellitus. These identified proteins were primarily involved in cell proliferation and homoeostasis of liver tissues upon the treatment with C. dactylon leaf extracts.     

The 20^(th) TRIPO Heads Meeting Held

On 1 December 2020,the 20th TRIPO Heads Meeting was held online,attended by CNIPA Commissioner Shen Changyu,JPO Commissioner Kasutani Toshihide of Japan and KIPO Commissioner Kim Yong Rae of the Republic of Korea.The heads reviewed and commended the results of cooperation produced over the past year and exchanged ideas for future work.     

分布式查询优化算法及对SDD-1算法的改进

针对分布式数据库系统的查询优化，讲述三个典型的算法：INGRES算法、System R*算法、SDD-1算法，并进行对比、优化、总结。最后对SDD-1算法进行改进。INGRES算法是应用于分布的INGRES系统中，而分布的INGRES是美国加州大学伯克利分校研制的INGRES的分布式后继；System R*算法是IBM圣约瑟研究实验室研制的System R的分布式后继，它主要应用于所研究的这个系统中；SDD-1算法采用半连接程序处理连接操作，无连接与分片，以现有的Datacomputer数据库管理系统为基础。     

城市群科技创新中心建设经验对成渝地区的启示

为推动成渝地区建设成为具有全国影响力的科技创新中心,通过梳理和归纳城市群科技创新中心的内涵和发展研究,以旧金山湾区、伦敦湾区、东京湾区和粤港澳大湾区为例,分析总结国内外著名城市群科技创新中心的建设情况,发现丰富的教育科研资源、较为完善的科技金融体系、较为成熟的产业集群结构以及良好的创新创业环境有助于推动城市群科技创新发展。结合成渝地区现有的科技创新基础和面临的挑战,提出成渝地区要打造全国具有影响力的科技创新中心,需要进一步健全合作创新机制、强化协同创新格局、培育重大原始创新、筑牢关键核心产业、完善科技服务体系、优化创新合作网络、聚集顶尖科创人才等。     

Evaluating the effects of ideology on public understanding of climate change science: how to improve communication across ideological divides?

While ideology can have a strong effect on citizen understanding of science, it is unclear how ideology interacts with other complicating factors, such as college education, which influence citizens' comprehension of information. We focus on public understanding of climate change science and test the hypotheses: [H1] as citizens' ideology shifts from liberal to conservative, concern for global warming decreases; [H2] citizens with college education and higher general science literacy tend to have higher concern for global warming; and [H3] college education does not increase global warming concern for conservative ideologues. We implemented a survey instrument in California's San Francisco Bay Area, and employed regression models to test the effects of ideology and other socio-demographic variables on citizen concern about global warming, terrorism, the economy, health care and poverty. We are able to confirm H1 and H3, but reject H2. Various strategies are discussed to improve the communication of climate change science across ideological divides.     

Teachers’ perspectives and contextual dimensions to guide the design of N.C. history learning objects and ontology

This paper describes an ongoing research project that involves the study of teachers’ information seeking behaviors, needs and practices in relation to a collection of primary source materials available through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Library’s digital library Documenting the American South (DocSouth). By gaining an in-depth understanding of the needs and wants of teachers in the context of their work, we hope to build a collection of learning objects and a domain ontology applied to the collection to improve teachers’ access to the cultural heritage materials and to facilitate their actual use in the classroom.     

Francisco Sánchez and the Quaestio de certitudine mathematicarum: A sceptical approach

In this paper I analyse Francisco Sánchez’s role in the Quaestio de certitudine mathematicarum debate. Despite some studies on the philosophical and medical scepticism of Sánchez and, his extant letter with Christopher Clavius, a participant in the debate, we have few analyses about Sánchez’s position regarding the certainty of mathematics. Sánchez discussed some problems that Clavius analysed in his Prolegomena to propose an empirical basis for mathematics through a questioning of its certainty. I will trace the conceptual connections between Sánchez’s 1589 letter to Clavius and the Quaestio debate, to introduce Sánchez’s sceptical approach to analysing the certainty of mathematics.     

Examining the effectiveness of real-time query expansion

Interactive query expansion (IQE) (c.f. [Efthimiadis, E. N. (1996). Query expansion. Annual Review of Information Systems and Technology, 31, 121–187]) is a potentially useful technique to help searchers formulate improved query statements, and ultimately retrieve better search results. However, IQE is seldom used in operational settings. Two possible explanations for this are that IQE is generally not integrated into searchers’ established information-seeking behaviors (e.g., examining lists of documents), and it may not be offered at a time in the search when it is needed most (i.e., during the initial query formulation). These challenges can be addressed by coupling IQE more closely with familiar search activities, rather than as a separate functionality that searchers must learn. In this article we introduce and evaluate a variant of IQE known as Real-Time Query Expansion (RTQE). As a searcher enters their query in a text box at the interface, RTQE provides a list of suggested additional query terms, in effect offering query expansion options while the query is formulated. To investigate how the technique is used – and when it may be useful – we conducted a user study comparing three search interfaces: a baseline interface with no query expansion support; an interface that provides expansion options during query entry, and a third interface that provides options after queries have been submitted to a search system. The results show that offering RTQE leads to better quality initial queries, more engagement in the search, and an increase in the uptake of query expansion. However, the results also imply that care must be taken when implementing RTQE interactively. Our findings have broad implications for how IQE should be offered, and form part of our research on the development of techniques to support the increased use of query expansion.