My home is my castle – Assessment of city love in Sweden

This paper offers a novel contribution to an evidence-based assessment of the attractiveness features (or perceived qualities) of cities or urban neighbourhoods, based on a quantitative evaluation of such areas by introducing and applying what is called ‘city-love’ analysis. To put this new concept in context, we offer first a concise overview of related and complementary notions (e.g. happiness, satisfaction, well-being, quality of life, contentment). Then we propose a new departure for attractiveness research pertaining to micro-based information on residents or users of cities by introducing the notion of a ‘city-love production function’. This function expresses the ability of cities to enhance the love or appreciation for a city or its neighbourhoods through an appropriate combination of five specific ‘city capital’ constituents. We test the validity of this so-called ‘Pentagon’ approach to city love by means of the city-love production function using a multivariate econometric model based on extensive heterogeneous statistical data on municipalities in Sweden and complemented with cell phone data. Our results are confronted with empirical ‘big data’ on the appreciation of Swedish places – and their characteristics – taken from social media platforms. The study offers also interesting findings from an advanced spatial-econometric and multilevel modelling approach. Our estimations show that the concept of the city-love production function allows us to quantitatively uncover important determinants of citizens’ love for their local environment.     

How do policy instruments generate new ones? Analysing policy instruments feedback and interaction in educational research in England, 1986-2014

The study of research funding arrangements and the production of scientific knowledge has been marked by a lack of understanding about how research funding instruments interact and how these instruments shape policy-making and research fields. To fill this research gap, this study is theoretically supported by policy feedback and policy instruments’ interaction studies. It investigates the effects of the UK's research assessment exercise in the creation of the most emblematic national thematic research program for the field of educational research in the country – the Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP). Based on qualitative analysis of policy documents and semi-structured interviews with policy-makers and boundary-spanners, this paper shows how the research assessment exercise contributed to the creation of the TLRP and how the interaction between the two policy instruments shaped the field of educational research in England. In particular, the results show a) how the institutionalisation of the research assessment led to frame a “quality problem” in educational research that legitimated several policy initiatives, including the creation of the national thematic research programme (interpretative effects) and a shift in resources allocation (resource/incentive effects); and b) how the interaction between the two policy instruments contributed to methodological and epistemic drifts in the field of educational research.     

Measuring the temporal dynamics of policy mixes – An empirical analysis of renewable energy policy mixes’ balance and design features in nine countries

Complex societal or environmental problems require fast and substantial socio-technical transitions. For instance, in the case of climate change, these transitions need to take place in the energy, transport and several industry sectors. To induce and accelerate such transitions, numerous policy interventions are required, which interact with each other in policy mixes. While several conceptual studies on policy mixes have been published recently, there is very little empirical research apart from single case or small-n studies. It has been prominently argued that the debate about policy mixes has reached an impasse partly due to this lack of empirical work. This paper addresses this gap by providing a first analysis of the temporal dynamics of complex policy mixes. To do so, we develop a conceptualization and measurement of policy mix balance across instrument types as well as policy mix design features (in the form of intensity as a general and technology specificity as a technology-focused design feature). This allows us to answer the question how temporal dynamics of policy mixes differ between countries regarding their balance and design features. Our measurement approach is developed bottom-up, i.e., policies are assessed individually and then aggregated systematically at the policy mix level. This enables overcoming the ‘dependent variable problem in the study of policy change’, i.e., the problem of measuring policy output. More specifically, we develop a comparative dataset of 522 renewable energy policies in nine OECD countries. Our analysis shows that countries’ policy mix dynamics vary strongly regarding some variables (e.g., technology specificity) but less regarding others (e.g., balance). As a validity check, we also test the effects of these mix dynamics on policy outcome in the form of renewable energy technology diffusion. We reflect our findings in light of the theoretical debates around policy mixes and policy design and discuss how our results provoke an agenda for the new generation of research on policy mixes. We specifically discuss avenues for future research with a particular focus on the ‘politics of policy mixes’.     

Against misleading technocratic precision in research evaluation and wider policy – A response to Franzoni and Stephan (2023), ‘uncertainty and risk-taking in science’

Franzoni and Stephan (2023) recommend a probabilistic ‘subjective expected utility’ technique for addressing challenges of uncertainty in research evaluation. Whilst acknowledging strengths in F&S's analysis, this Response highlights a series of important practical, theoretical and methodological deficiencies. The stakes are raised, in that these are widely shared in a growing body of practice across research policy and beyond. This practice seeks to reduce and aggregate real-world complex, ambiguous, qualitative, multidimensional and contested challenges through ostensibly precise calculation. Taking associated problems in turn, this Response shows how F&S: make scientifically dubious claims; understate the depths of uncertainty; overstate the sufficiency of quantification; neglect foundational limits to calculation; and ignore crucial interpretive dimensions of policy making. Highlighting roles for greater methodological diversity, this Response points at the end to alternative methods that collectively allow more robustly plural approaches to contrasting aspects of incertitude. In the process, the steering of directions for research can become more rigorous and accountable and less vulnerable to manipulation and inadvertent bias. With globally growing ‘post-truth’ authoritarian populism arguably partly provoked by the kind of technocracy criticised here, research evaluation may in a small way help re-invigorate democracy by ‘opening up’ in this particular area, the hiding of politics behind expertise.     

Energy-rich Plant Research in China： Overview and Prospect

I. The Urgency & Necessity for Developing Biomass EnergyEnergy sources are the mate- rial basis for subsistence and de- velopment of the contemporary society. A safe, reliable supply and efficient, pollution-free utilization of them are fundamental guarantees for the sustainable development of China’s economy as well as the in- surance for China’s national security. During the past two decades, national energy consump- tion in this country has doubled as a result of the soaring growth of …     

Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics的国际化发展实践

【目的】探索实现我国科技期刊国际化的途径,提供一些国际化办刊思路。【方法】以Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics(RAA)走向国际化的努力为例,重点介绍RAA建设国际化编委队伍、争取国际优秀稿源、实现国际化审稿,并在出版发行方面开展国际化合作等方面采取的一系列措施。【结论】RAA通过全方位的国际化努力,进一步扩大了期刊的宣传力,加强了期刊的影响力,从而提高了期刊的影响因子。     

Social media analytics – Challenges in topic discovery,data collection,and data preparation

Since an ever-increasing part of the population makes use of social media in their day-to-day lives, social media data is being analysed in many different disciplines. The social media analytics process involves four distinct steps, data discovery, collection, preparation, and analysis. While there is a great deal of literature on the challenges and difficulties involving specific data analysis methods, there hardly exists research on the stages of data discovery, collection, and preparation. To address this gap, we conducted an extended and structured literature analysis through which we identified challenges addressed and solutions proposed. The literature search revealed that the volume of data was most often cited as a challenge by researchers. In contrast, other categories have received less attention. Based on the results of the literature search, we discuss the most important challenges for researchers and present potential solutions. The findings are used to extend an existing framework on social media analytics. The article provides benefits for researchers and practitioners who wish to collect and analyse social media data.     

From ivory towers to online bazaars? The internet,social media and competing discourses in the newspaper industry

In line with the development of new media, newspaper companies are facing drastic changes in their competitive environment. Managing change requires both new capabilities and new ways of thinking. Organizational learning could be seen in terms of increasing shared organizational knowledge through changing social practices, which in turn consist of discourses. In this article we investigate the Internet and social-media-related discourse among newspaper journalists, in order to enhance understanding of how social reality is constituted and made sense of in this environment. We identify four types of discourse: Ivory-tower-creating and Shielding, which seem to impede learning, and Accelerating and Connecting, which encourage adaptation to learning and change within newspaper companies.     

CAS,Guangxi to join forces for eco-environmental restoration in Karst areas

CAS has recently signed a protocol with the Government of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to jointly rehabilitate the depleted ecosystem in the local Karst areas.     

Disabled e‐nation: telecommunications,disability, and national policy

This article considers questions of technological change, innovation, and communication from a disability perspective. Using a critical social perspective on disability, we offer an Australian case study to analyse disability in national telecommunications policy. In doing so, we critique the systemic lack of incorporation of disability in national visions, policies, and programmes. Accordingly, we argue for a cohesive, and genuine commitment to incorporating disability considerations in all areas of information and communication technology policy and scholarship.     

Research subsidies,industry–university cooperation and innovation

We evaluate the impact of the EC's Seventh Framework Programme, a large-scale research subsidy programme, on the innovation activities of subsidized firms, with a particular regard to industry–university partnerships. Using matching and difference-in-difference estimation, we find a positive effect on a range of innovation indicators. The number of project participants in general and university participants in particular positively affect performance, suggesting knowledge spillovers between project members. Research centres, on the other hand, do not exert positive externalities. We also find that the benefits of collaborating with universities are amplified by their academic quality.     

National technology policy and computer production in Asia‐pacific countries

The relationship of technology policy to economic and industrial development has become a subject of debate between those who argue that market forces should determine how technology is produced and used and those who believe that government has a role in supporting investment in technology use and the development of high‐technology industries. This article looks at the effects of national technology policy in promoting the production of computer hardware and software in Asia‐Pacific countries during the 1980s. It also analyzes the relationship between various environmental factors and computer production and looks at the interaction between environment and policy. It finds three types of environmental factors associated with level of computer production: human resources, in the form of scientists and engineers; the presence of complementary industries, particularly electronics production; and expenditures on research and development. It also finds that hardware production is higher in countries with national computer plans but that software production does not appear to be associated with efforts by the government to promote the computer industry.     

Knowledge for sale – the benefits and effects of off-shoring knowledge-based jobs in engineering,design, and R&D – a case study

A framework consisting of a conceptual model and a closed-loop knowledge work outsourcing decision model is developed. A process flow model of a medical device company's product development function is analysed, where this framework is applied to understand various outsourcing options for the company. The conceptual framework describes major attributes related to outsourcing decisions, parameters associated with various attributes and the relationship intensity of parameters with three knowledge work outsourcing options – in-house, near-shoring, and off-shoring. The proposed model is closed loop, emphasizing the importance of regular re-evaluation needed for an off-shored function. The modeling framework contributes to a company's decision whether or not a particular knowledge-based function should either be kept in-house, near-sourced or off-shored. The general perception of off-shoring is to reduce costs but, the proposed model takes into account additional factors such as, market accessibility, strategic partnership, reduced time to regional market, access to overseas talent pool, and governmental incentives, etc. These factors play a vital role in determining an outsourced function. The paper discusses various options and makes recommendations for tapping into technological advancements around the world, their effects on supply chain management and other competitive advantages presented by off-shoring.     

Environmental innovations in services: Manufacturing–services integration and policy transmissions

This paper investigates the relevant factors behind the almost unexplored realm of environmental innovation in services, using a dataset of 8161 Italian service firms. Specifically, we test whether manufacturing-services integration matters for environmental innovations. In addition, taking account for the heterogeneity of the service industries, we analyse whether environmental policies for manufacturing transmit ‘induced innovation’ effects to services. Our findings show that: (i) the drivers of environmental innovations related to carbon abatement and energy efficiency differ across industries, and (ii) cooperation, training, environmental management systems and public funding play key roles in these processes. The integration of services and manufacturing through push and pull-effects, and the environmental policy transmission effect from manufacturing to services, generally do not seem to have a positive impact on the diffusion of environmental innovations.     

Answer Common Challenges and Promote Shared Development——Science and Research Organizations in Belt and Road Regions Vow to Strengthen Cooperation in Science,Technology and Innovation

正How to achieve green,quality and sustainable development against the backdrop of global change,stringent natural resources and increasing population pressure,has become a common challenge for many countries-the same for countries involved in the"Belt and Road Initiative",a grand initiative proposed by Chinese President XI Jinping to     

Research on Geographic and Functional Difference of Science Parks＇ Regional Policy, Resource Endowment and Business Service in China

功能不同和地理分布差异的科技园区为入驻企业提供的区域政策、资源禀赋是不同的,通过文献回顾、量表设计和问卷调查,验证了概念测量的信度和效度,构建了多变量的检验模型。研究发现：不同功能和地理分布的科技园区所提供的区域政策和资源禀赋是有显著差异的,但是科技园区都需要加强园内招商机构的服务质量,其招商服务没有显著性差别。为了提高企业入驻科技因区的动机,科技园所提供的区域政策是入驻企业最关注的核心问题。根据研究结论提出了相应的政策建议。     

Outcome-based contracts – Linking technology,ownership and reputations

Outcome-based contracts (OBC) in information technology outsourcing have attracted much attention, but literature is relatively scarce on this topic. Though firm theories prefer hierarchy as the most protective form of governance for such transactions, the practice moves forward with many hybrid governance structures underpinned by automation and digital transformation technologies. The objective of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that explains the preference for inter-firm arrangements in OBCs and exhibits the capabilities of these technologies in mitigating contract inefficiencies. The proposed framework narrows the gap in the literature for a concurrent view of the latitudinal (ex-post, ex-ante) and longitudinal (reputation) dimensions of the contract. We represent the OBC as a concurrent stochastic game in a probabilistic model checker. Testing of our propositions revealed that these technology assets are complementary and joint ownership is desirable under reputation effects, reputation transfers take place between the contracting parties in the same direction, and continuous reallocation of ownership is required to maintain joint ownership. Rapid technological advancement and industry maturity can gravitate the transaction towards common ownership. The reputation function using Fermi probability distribution in our model is a novel performance measure for the industry.     

Research on Complexity of Knowledge Innovation System and It＇s Collaborative Mechanism of Action in Research Team

目前协同机制在知识创新过程中越来越表现出突出的作用,为了更有效地实现组织的知识创新,将协同机制引入科研团队知识创新系统。首先根据国内外创造力理论和知识创新相关文献分析以及不同科研团队案例调研,构建了科研团队知识创新系统,论证该系统具有复杂系统特性。此复杂系统具备应用协同机制的条件,据此建立了科研团队知识创新体系的协同机制应用模型,并对其静态特性和动态效应进行了分析,最后通过某科研团队的案例分析,即在整个科研项目过程中实施协同管理,观察协同机制在各个子系统中的具体实施和实际应用,并验证研究内容。     

Pleural,peritoneal and pericardial effusions – a biochemical approach

The pathological accumulation of serous fluids in the pleural, peritoneal and pericardial space occurs in a variety of conditions. Since patient management depends on right and timely diagnosis, biochemical analysis of extravascular body fluids is considered a valuable tool in the patient management process.The biochemical evaluation of serous fluids includes the determination of gross appearance, differentiation of transudative from exudative effusions and additional specific biochemical testing to assess the effusion etiology. This article summarized data from the most relevant literature concerning practice with special emphasis on usefulness of biochemical tests used for the investigation of pleural, peritoneal and pericardial effusions. Additionally, preanalytical issues concerning serous fluid analysis were addressed and recommendations concerning acceptable analytical practice in serous fluid analysis were presented.