Foreign technology in the Spanish economy: An analysis of the recent evolution

The discussion about the future role to be played by countries like Spain in the new international division of labor has a crucial point in the availability of technological inputs in such a way that allows us to deal with the accumulation process better than we did in the past. In the 1960s and even the 1950s, the very important growth of the Spanish economy depended very much on the massive importation of foreign technology, as we show in the first part of the work. The deficiencies of the inner innovation system made access to the foreign technology a vicious circle ruling any movement towards more complex stages of industrialization.Several important events took place throughout the 1970s (the international crisis, the political change in Spain, etc.) and this is why we are trying to find signs of change in the conditions of the innovation process. Even though the available data is not as good as the question requires, analysis of the recent information allows us to reach the conclusion that the general framework still remains the same. The R&D effort continues to be very poor and the importation of foreign technology dominates the industrial production even during a very dramatic stagnation of the economic activity.     

Construction starts for largest botanical garden in the world

The cornerstone was laid on 30 May for the Qinling Botanical Garden, which boasts the world's largest one in terms of space, in Zhouzhi County of Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.     

Performance of Spanish universities in technology transfer: An empirical analysis

This paper investigates the performance of universities in the transfer of technology using a unique university-level dataset for Spain. The results suggest that universities with established policies and procedures for the management of technology transfer perform better. Universities with large and experienced technology transfer offices (TTOs) generate higher volumes of contract research, but the TTO characteristics appear to matter less for university performance in terms of licensing and creation of spin-offs. Furthermore, universities with a science park perform better than those without, which suggests that the agglomeration of knowledge close to universities has a positive effect on universities’ technology transfer performance.     

构建可持续发展的未来:植物园的作用——第三届世界植物园大会综述及启示

一会议的背景和基本情况世界植物园大会为国际植物园保护联盟(BGCI)最高规格国际会议,旨在为全球的植物园、植物研究所、大学、园艺研究所和     

中国植物园科学传播模式分析与建构

在国内,对中国植物园科学传播模式的研究几乎处于空白。本研究从传播学出发,结合教育学、心理学等多学科,通过文献法、问卷调查法、访谈法等方法,从科学传播过程的五个要素：传播者、传播内容、传播渠道、传播对象及效果评估,分析中国植物园科学传播的现状和存在的问题,描述现有的“单向、直线、以传播者为中心”的传播模式,最终建构理想的“双向、互动、以受众为中心”的模式,并提出建议。     

Public science for a global empire: The British quest for the South Magnetic Pole

It is well known to historians of science that, early in the nineteenth century, terrestrial magnetism became both a popular science and a significant research enterprise in Europe. For Britain, as a maritime power, it offered benefits for navigation. Theoretical physicists claimed that, with enough observations of magnetic variation, intensity, and dip taken throughout the world over time, they could deduce regular mathematical laws to explain the phenomena. Because of the lack of data from the region, particular attention focused on field research in deep southern latitudes. Finding the precise location of the South Magnetic Pole became a prime goal for some enthusiasts. With burgeoning colonies in Africa and the Antipodes, Britain assumed a leading role in this effort. British scientists looked to their government for funding and called on the Admiralty to dispatch expeditions. It is less well known that both popular and scientific interest in terrestrial magnetism continued throughout the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century. The H.M.S. Erebus and H.M.S. Terror (1839-1843), H.M.S. Challenger (1872-1876), and R.Y. Discovery (1901-1904) sailed to the Antarctic as part of Britain's extended "Magnetic Crusade," which culminated with Royal Society geologist T. W. Edgeworth David of the Nimrod expedition reaching the South Magnetic Pole in 1909.     

Commodity culture: tropical health and hygiene in the British Empire

Before heading to a 'tropical' region of the Empire, British men and women spent considerable time and effort gathering outfit believed essential for their impending trip. Ordinary items such as soap, clothing, foodstuffs and bedding became transformed into potentially life-saving items that required the fastidious attention of any would-be traveller. Everyone from scientists and physicians to missionaries and administrators was bombarded by relentless advertising and abundant advice about the outfit needed to preserve health in a tropical climate. A closer look at this marketing exercise reveals much about the way people thought about tropical people, places, health and hygiene and how scientific and commercial influences shaped this Imperial commodity culture.     

Technology and the generation of international knowledge spillovers: An application to Spanish manufacturing firms

In the continuing debate about the positive versus negative effects of inward investments in a host economy, a new perspective has arisen from new firms’ strategy nowadays to internationalise their activity. One aspect is that knowledge that is not completely appropriable by foreign affiliates abroad may spill over into domestic firms. In the absence of conclusive evidence, two questions can be put forward: the first concerns the role played by technology in the generation of those external effects; the second, the micro-assessment of the dynamics of technological spillovers. In this paper, results show that benefits for domestic firms in Spain differ across industries by their technological content. The hypothesis of spillover dynamics is tested and supported by the availability of panel data for manufacturing firms in the 1990s.     

Science–technology flows in Spanish regions: An analysis of scientific citations in patents

Many regions of the European Union with a high degree of autonomy have elected very clearly to stimulate scientific research and technological development (R&D) as a specific means of promoting economic growth and the welfare of their citizens. In Spain, several autonomous regions have organised their efforts in science and technology by means of the adoption of regional R&D plans. In some cases, particular concern is taken to link the scope of scientific research with that of technology, but even in these few cases, it is acknowledged that little is known of the mechanisms by which the results of scientific research are translated into technological development, and how this latter in turn influences the objectives of scientific research. Our aim in this article is to study in greater depth the relationship between science and technological development in the various regions of Spain. The methodology that we apply to investigate the links between science and technology is based on an analysis of scientific citations in patent documents (non-patent citation (NPC)). The results obtained from this study provide some relevant data on the interconnection between the scientific and technological systems from a regional perspective.     

Arabidopsis, the botanical Drosophila: from mouse cress to model organism

The small flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana is the best-studied model organism in plant biology. More resources are allocated to research on this little weed than to the study of well-known favourites such as worms, fruit flies and mice. Yet, up to the early 1980s plant biologists had every good reason to ignore Arabidopsis: neither did it seem to possess the characteristics of a good model organism, nor did it have any agricultural promise. The sudden prestige acquired by Arabidopsis research thus constitutes a remarkable historical puzzle. What made the mouse cress into the most successful model organism to date?     

2015年超级厄尔尼诺事件的成功预报

2015年初,热带太平洋明显出现了厄尔尼诺事件爆发的一些前期物理信号,这些大气和海洋中呈现的前兆信号与上次爆发超级厄尔尼诺事件的1997年同期非常相似。伴随着赤道西风的增强和暖水的东传,赤道中东太平洋次表层(即洋面以下)暖水不断积聚,赤道东太平洋海温增温也更加显著。到10月份以后,赤道中东太平洋海温已经比常年同期偏高2.0℃-3.0℃以上,发展成为21世纪最强的一次厄尔尼诺事件。相比国际上众多厄尔尼诺模型提前6-9个月未能给出正确预报的现状,在中科院战略先导专项海洋专项的支持下持续发展的厄尔尼诺预报系统(中科院大气所集合预报版本:IAP Leefs_CDA),则提前9个月以上对该超级厄尔尼诺事件的爆发、发展和强度给出了成功的预报,为我国的气候预测和防灾减灾提供了有力的支撑。同时,厄尔尼诺预报系统的另一版本(中科院海洋所确定性预报版本:IOCAS ICM)也首次在美国哥伦比亚大学网站上提供厄尔尼诺实时预报结果。     

'Dr Steinach coming to make old young!': sex glands,vasectomy and the quest for rejuvenation in the roaring twenties

In the 1920s, research on the endocrine glands--especially the sex glands--was widely expected to lead to revolutionary new ways of improving human life. The medical marketplace was crowded with glandular techniques to revitalize the aged. 'Monkey glands' apart, the Austrian physiologist Eugen Steinach's simple, vasectomy-like operation was perhaps the most popular of these. Steinach was one of the leading endocrine researchers of the early 20th century and the Steinach Operation was based on rigorous laboratory research. It was much more than a simple scientific error, and its history shows us how early endocrine research was shaped by broader social and cultural forces.     

Lab for herbal medicine standardization to be established in Shanghai

With the support of the National Development and Reform Commission, the National Engineering Laboratory for Traditional Chinese Medicine is to be built at the CAS Institute of Meteria Mediea （IMM） in Shanghai.     

Lab for herbal medicine standardization to be established in Shanghai

With the support of the National Development and Reform Commission, the National Engineering Laboratory for Traditional Chinese Medicine is to be built at the CAS Institute of Meteria Medica (IMM) in Shanghai. The plaque presentation ceremony for this and nine other labs was held at the China Bio-industry Conference 2008 on 21 June in Changsha, capital of southern China’s Hunan Province.     

Biomarkers of inflammation and cardiac remodeling: the quest of relevant companions for the risk stratification of heart failure patients is still ongoing

Heart failure (HF) is a frequent chronic disease in elderly people and represents a major health and economic burden. The accurate diagnosis of HF and the identification of high risk patients is mandatory to select the appropriate therapy and care. HF is associated to cardiac remodeling and inflammation and to the release of neurohormones. If natriuretic peptides remain the biomarkers of choice for the diagnosis and the prognosis of HF, several biomarkers related to cardiac remodeling and inflammation are available for testing and may add valuable information for the risk estimation of HF patients and for the selection of the most appropriated therapy. Furthermore, the quest for new efficient biomarkers of cardiac remodeling and inflammation is still ongoing and new candidates have been identified for a potential use in daily clinical practices. However, before their potential translation to routine parameters several challenges ranging form the analytical validation to the cost-effectiveness estimation should be considered.