Technological development and political stability: Patenting in Latin America and the Caribbean

We examine the effect of national political institutions on patent application rates. The expected future value of a patent, like any other form of property, depends at least partially on certainty about the future. In circumstances where policy stability is greatest, and hence political uncertainty least, one should expect more aggressive pursuit of intellectual property rights. We test these ideas using a 27 year panel of Latin American and Caribbean nations, estimating US patent applications and domestic patent applications by local inventors for each observation, and holding other economic and technological inputs to innovation constant. Our principal finding is that political stability matters to patenting. For US patent applications institutional system tenure, regardless of system type, increases patent applications. For domestic patent applications, institutional stability has either a weakly negative or insignificant effect, a result we attribute to generally escalating local patenting standards over time. The type of government influences both US and domestic patent applications rates, with a veto-players institutional coding better predicting marginal patenting rates than regime type.     

Disrupting neoliberal discourse in critical sustainability education: a qualitative analysis of intentional language framing

While education for sustainability is a critical task that is gaining ground in a plethora of educational contexts, it is frequently rendered ineffective in the face of neoliberal practice and discourse. Here we examine the pervasive impacts of neoliberalism on education for sustainability, looking specifically at discursive formations that shape our understandings of humans in and as nature. Throughout ecological texts, root metaphors carry forward specific cultural histories that serve neoliberal agendas by positioning nature as commodity and humans as consumers. We sought to systematically understand how manipulating a root metaphor in the creation of instructional texts might disrupt neoliberal discourse and foster critical sustainability. Using a thought-listing technique to explore student response patterns qualitatively allowed for insights into the power of discourse in educational contexts. Data support the notion that intentional framing may be a powerful tool in education for sustainability. We argue that language and discourse are necessary and effective grounds for change if sustainability is to take root.     

Positioning in groups: a new development in systemic consultation

This article describes a new approach, employing a combination of Positioning Theory and Semantic Polarities, that educational psychologists can use to develop and facilitate change in organisations and groups. Resistance to change can be seen as reflecting a lack of the language that the members of an organisation need to participate effectively in the new discourses that are associated with change. Positioning Theory can be used to develop this new language of participation, which can then be used by all in the organisation or group to agree how development can happen and what their contribution to this would be.     

Neural ranking models for document retrieval

Information Retrieval Journal - Ranking models are the main components of information retrieval systems. Several approaches to ranking are based on traditional machine learning algorithms using a...     

去美丽的加州旅行吧!

正说起美国加州,优胜美地(Yosemite)、棕榈泉(Palm Springs)、迪士尼乐园(Disneyland)也许是人们较为熟知的名字。本期,旅居中国的Jeff Gerdes将带领我们感受一个美国人眼中的加州:除了在好莱坞大片中经常出现的金门大桥(Golden     

Investigation of toppling ball flight in American football with a mechanical field-goal kicker

A mechanical field-goal kicking machine was used to investigate toppling ball flight in American football place-kicking, eliminating a number of uncontrollable impact variables present with a human kicker. Ball flight trajectories were recorded using a triangulation-based projectile tracking system to account for the football’s 3-dimensional position during flight as well as initial launch conditions. The football flights were described using kinematic equations relating to projectile motion including stagnant air drag and were compared to measured trajectories as well as projectile motion equations that exclude stagnant air drag. Measured football flight range deviations from the non-drag equations of projectile motion corresponded to deficits between 9 and 31%, which is described by a football toppling compound drag coefficient of 0.007 ± 0.003 kg/m. Independent variables including impact location and impact angle orientation resulted in 15 impact conditions. We found that an impact location of 5.5 cm from the bottom of the ball maximized trajectory height and distance. At the 5.5-cm impact location, alterations in impact angle produced minimal change in football trajectory, including launch angle (range = 1.96 deg), launch speed (range = 1.06 m/s), and range (range = 0.94 m).     

The Effect of Mobile Support Devices on the Anxiety and Self‐Efficacy of Hospital Float Staff

Floating is the act of staff moving from one unit to another based on the needs of the patients in a hospital. Many staff who float to different units express negative feelings, including anxiety and lack of self‐efficacy. However, floating is an economical and efficient method to use staff across the hospital, especially with current staffing shortages in the United States. This study investigated how the use of mobile performance support devices may help reduce anxiety and increase self‐efficacy for staff who float to different units. With access to multiple resources available on mobile devices, Bandura's social learning theory and self‐efficacy concept set the framework through modeling, observing, and imitating others in order to reproduce certain behaviors and tasks and believe in one's capability to perform. A quantitative study incorporating the retrospective pretest‐posttest design was conducted using the population of float staff, both nurses and respiratory therapists, from Children's Medical Center of Dallas. Both the State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory and General Self‐Efficacy Scale, along with a basic demographic tool, were used to explore anxiety and self‐efficacy in relation to the use of mobile performance support devices. Findings can be used to alleviate the negative feelings of staff toward the idea of floating.