Strategic interactions in public R&D across European countries: A spatial econometric analysis

The paper adds to the existing literature on the determinants of government spending in Research and Development (R&D) by considering the role of strategic interactions among countries as one of the possible competing explanations, within a spatial econometric framework. We account for several factors affecting national levels of public R&D spending, including (i) the international context – i.e. Lisbon strategy; (ii) country characteristics – level of private R&D, GDP, trade openness and the National System of Innovation; (iii) countries’ similarities in relation to (a) trade and economic size and (b) sectoral specialization. The analysis is carried out on 14 European countries. First, we find that factors traditionally affecting the level of public R&D expenditure, such as the scale of the national economy, trade openness, sectoral specialization and private R&D, significantly influence the level of public R&D in European countries between 1994 and 2006. Interestingly, the introduction of the Lisbon strategy does not seem to have affected changes in the levels of public R&D spending. Second, by using different weight matrices, we confirm the existence of strategic interactions in relation to R&D spending among European countries with similar economic, international trade and sectoral structure characteristics, though not geographically close.     

算法谜题

正出版社:人民邮电出版社出版时间:2014-03-01ISBN:9787115338440所属分类:图书计算机与互联网操作系统算法是计算机科学领域最重要的基石之一。算法谜题,就是能够直接或间接地采用算法来加以解决的谜题。求解算法谜题是培养和锻炼算法思维能力一种最有效和最有乐趣的途径。《算法谜题》是一本经典算法谜题的合集。书中包括了一些古已有之的谜题,数学和计算机科学有一部分知识就发源于此。《算法谜题》中还有一些较新的谜题,其中有一部分谜题     

Critical factors influencing secondary school pupil’s decisions to study computing in tertiary education: Gender differences

This paper aims to determine the factors affecting the decisions of both male and female secondary school pupils whether or not to pursue undergraduate studies in Computing. It is based on research conducted in Greece, on a sample of 248 pupils, 135 of whom were female. All were aged 17 and about to decide on their future undergraduate studies. Questionnaires were used, addressing issues in the following four main categories: a) the reasons pupils chose/rejected Computing, b) how family and friends, the media and the school environment contribute to their decision, c) how pupils perceived their future after studying Computing and d) how pupils perceived the profile of a computer professional in terms of gender.

Psychometric evaluation of the exercise identity scale among Greek adults and cross-cultural validity

The present study reported on translating the Exercise Identity Scale (EIS: Anderson & Cychosz, 1994) into Greek and examining its psychometric properties and cross-cultural validity based on U.S. individuals' EIS responses. Using four samples comprising 33, 103, and 647 Greek individuals, including exercisers and nonexercisers, and a similar sample comprising 800 U.S. individuals, the concurrent validity, factor structure, internal reliability, test-retest reliability, external validity, gender invariance, and cross-cultural validity of the EIS responses were examined using confirmatory factor analytical procedures. The results supported the concurrent validity, an adequate unidimensional factor structure for the translated EIS and the internal reliability and test-retest reliability over a 6-week interval. Further, cross-gender configural, partial metric, partial strong factorial, and partial strict factorial invariance and cross-cultural configural and partial metric invariance supported the cross-cultural equivalence of the EIS versions. Moreover, the external validity of the translated EIS responses was also supported. Overall, the findings supported the validity of the exercise identity construct outside North American boundaries and the EIS items' equivalence, providing initial evidence for its cross-cultural applicability.     

The multidisciplinary roots of higher education research: An analysis of citation patterns

Researchers in higher education (HE) are a community of academics with backgrounds and experiences in a variety of scientific disciplines. For this reason, HE research is influenced by other disciplines from which HE researchers take theories, constructs and research methods. This article describes a large-scale analysis of the impact of different scientific fields on HE research. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the influences of psychology, sociology & political science, and economics as the disciplines that have the greatest impact on HE research. To assess this impact, we analyse citation patterns in seven key HE journals. Our empirical analysis confirms that HE research is indeed a multidisciplinary field and experiences a different impact of identified scientific fields for HE articles of different topics. We analyse the dynamics of such an impact and discuss the factors that may cause the growth of multidisciplinarity in HE research.     

Meeting players where they are: Digital games and learning ecologies

This paper explores the relationship between digital games and learning along the continuum from formal to informal learning. Games are an increasingly important component of our learning ecologies but their potential can prove difficult to fully harness due to the downsides of gaming in informal contexts and to the limitations games can present when adopted in formal learning contexts. The aim of this paper is to shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of games for learning, and to gather stakeholder recommendations for the main actors in the field. The adopted research approach is qualitative and participatory, involving players, teachers, parents, researchers and developers. Data from 25 interviews and 11 focus groups yielded insights into the educational, psychological and ethical aspects of play. Results suggest that gameplay influences individuals in a very personal manner, and that its effects cover a wide range of skills, extending to identity development. Hence, to harness this potential, all actors in the ecology need strong awareness of both the affordances and the risks of games, and deep respect for individuals’ LEs. The study has implications for a wide range of actors, including educators, players, researchers, parents, game developers and policymakers.     

More than Bags of Words: Sentiment Analysis with Word Embeddings

ABSTRACT

Moving beyond the dominant bag-of-words approach to sentiment analysis we introduce an alternative procedure based on distributed word embeddings. The strength of word embeddings is the ability to capture similarities in word meaning. We use word embeddings as part of a supervised machine learning procedure which estimates levels of negativity in parliamentary speeches. The procedure’s accuracy is evaluated with crowdcoded training sentences; its external validity through a study of patterns of negativity in Austrian parliamentary speeches. The results show the potential of the word embeddings approach for sentiment analysis in the social sciences.     

Does sensorimotor training improve the static balance of young volleyball players?

The aim of this investigation is to assess the effectiveness of a 6-week balance training (BT) protocol, integrated in regular training sessions, on postural sway of young female volleyball players (n = 26, age 13.0 +/- 0.2 years) divided into two groups (intervention and control; 13 per group). Trials were performed for bipedal and unipedal stance conditions before and after the BT protocol, using a pressure platform to collect center-of-pressure (COP) time series that were processed to calculate sway area, COP path length, and maximum displacement range in anteroposterior and mediolateral directions. The intervention group exhibited smaller sway areas in eyes closed conditions (intervention = 42.76 mm2, control = 67.60 mm2; p < 0.05) and Romberg quotients (intervention = 1.11 mm, control = 1.82 mm) in bipedal stance, while all the other parameters were unaffected. BT also reduced sway area (intervention = 122.70 mm2, control = 187.18 mm2) and anteroposterior COP displacements (intervention = 20.18 mm, control = 22.38 mm) of the non-dominant limb for single-leg stance. No significant change was found for the dominant limb. Although it is possible to hypothesize a beneficial effect of BT on young athletes, further investigations are required to clarify its actual effect on balance performance with respect to normal volleyball training.     

Online Teacher Training in a Context of Forced Immobility: The Case of Gaza,Palestine

This article discusses an action research study that involved the design and delivery of an online training course for teachers of Arabic to speakers of other languages in the Gaza Strip (Palestine). Grounded in Freirean pedagogy, the course aimed to respond to the employment needs of university graduates by creating opportunities for online language teaching. The action research study explored the dynamics at play within the online educational environment, to evidence elements that challenged and/or facilitated effective collaboration between trainers and trainees. This article retraces and discusses the processes through which the course moved from didacticism to engaged critical pedagogy.