中国新兴生物企业的生产效率及其不确定性——基于DEA和神经网络模拟的面板数据分析

作为战略性新兴产业之一,生物产业的快速成长被视为中国把握新科技革命战略机遇、全面建设创新型国家的重大举措.但是,由于生物产业自身的特点以及由此引致的科研开发、产业化方面的落伍,造成生物企业生产效率从总体上偏低.通过选择国内17家上市生物企业,构建了反映其生产效率的指标体系,运用数据包络视窗分析对2000-2008年面板数据进行生产效率分析,并对其2009-2011年的发展前景做了神经网络模拟.实证结果显示,无论是这9年还是被预估的3年,大多企业的生产效率有着很大的不确定性,普遍存在投入冗余和产出不足,内生增长能力低下;在全行业处于规模收益递增时期,通过培育内生创新能力、帮助企业做大然后再做强是当前面临的紧迫任务.     

教育要坚持全面协调可持续发展

可持续发展是我国学前教育事业发展的战略目标和未来向往,也是学前教育事业健康稳定发展的必有表征、必需保障和必然路径。学前教育可持续发展亟需构建科学、完善的指标体系加以指引。基于可持续发展系统论,从高度与水平、空间结构、时间进程三个维度出发,构建了由发展度、协调度和永续度组成的学前教育可持续发展评价指标体系,并测算了当前我国学前教育可持续发展综合水平和“三度”水平,发现我国学前教育可持续发展整体处于中等水平,全国四大区域之间差异明显,发展度、协调度和永续度三者之间均衡性不足,“三度”内在构成要素之间也存在明显差异。我国学前教育可持续发展的实现,应以经费投入为重点, 多措并举提高学前教育发展水平;以公平均衡为导向,推动城乡、园际学前教育协调发展;以内外合力为保障,驱动学前教育健康永续发展。

     

Longitudinal Study of Student Attitudes in a Biology Program

This is among the first longitudinal studies to report student attitudes across 4 yr of a university program. We found that the attitudes of students in biology become significantly more expert-like from the first year to the fourth year of the program, that is, there was a significant positive shift in students’ overall percent favorable scores from 64.5 to 72%, as opposed to the expert response, which averaged 90%. There was a significant positive shift for the real world connection category (78–85%), the enjoyment (personal interest) category (74–82%), and the conceptual connections/memorization category (66–74%). Moreover, there was a significant correlation between students’ overall percent favorable scores and performance (cumulative grade point average) at the end, but not at the beginning, of the fourth year, with high-performing students having significantly more expert-like attitudes than low-performing students. The correlation between percent favorable score and performance was the strongest for the problem solving: synthesis and application category, in which the highest-performing students finished their fourth year with 90% favorable compared with 35% favorable for the lowest-performing students. A comparison of these results with previously reported results and their implications for teaching are discussed.     

Sex education and young people in group homes: balancing risks,rights and resilience in sexual health promotion

This paper presents findings from focus group interviews conducted in Swedish government group homes for young people with a history of psychosocial problems, substance misuse and criminal behaviour. Participants were asked to reflect on a newly developed sex education curriculum located within a harm-reduction paradigm prior to its implementation. In addition to appreciating the proposed 10 sessions, young people positively evaluated the proposed dialogical and norm critical teaching style as likely to facilitate productive discussion about sexuality. Findings will contribute to future implementation of the sex education curriculum across a range of institutional settings. Results also highlight the democratic aspects of involving vulnerable young people in matters that directly concern them, and underline the importance of properly contextualised forms of sex education.     

Learning the (hidden) silence policy within the police

Many organisations declare that the ability for employees to speak out about organisational matters is important for organisational development. However, recent literature reports a widespread fear of retaliation among employees if they express themselves – especially within the police. The point of departure of the present article is the tension and discrepancy between official policy and officers’ accounts of the conversational climate within the police. Through empirical examples from data consisting of field studies and 33 interviews with police officers in subordinate ranks, this article describes how employees learn and reproduce informal norms that condition the conversational and working climate within the organisation. In contrast to official guidelines within the police, employees learn the informal cultural norms of keeping a low profile and remaining silent through everyday talk. Theories that stress how discourses, storytelling, and noisy silences accomplish social action are used to explain why these informal norms are given such power within an institutional setting.     

Advancing Research and Measurement on Fathering and Children's Development

Fathers are more than social accidents. Research has demonstrated that fathers matter to children's development. Despite noted progress, challenges remain on how best to conceptualize and assess fathering and father–child relationships. The current monograph is the result of an SRCD-sponsored meeting of fatherhood scholars brought together to discuss these challenges and make recommendations for best practices for incorporating fathers in studies on parenting and children's development. The first aim of this monograph was to provide a brief update on the current state of research on fathering and to lay out a developmental ecological systems perspective as a conceptual framework for understanding the different spaces fathers inhabit in their children's lives. Because there is wide variability in fathers’ roles, the ecological systems perspective situates fathers, mothers, children, and other caregivers within an evolving network of interrelated social relationships in which children and their parents change over time and space (e.g., residence). The second aim was to present examples of empirical studies conducted by members of the international working group that highlighted different methods, data collection, and statistical analyses used to capture the variability in father–child relationships. The monograph ends with a commentary that elaborates on the ecological systems framework with a discussion of the broader macrosystem and social-contextual influences that impinge on fathers and their children. The collection of articles contributes to research on father–child relationships by advancing theory and presenting varied methods and analysis strategies that assist in understanding the father–child relationship and its impact on child development.     

R&amp;D collaboration: role of <Emphasis Type="Italic">B</Emphasis>a in knowledge-creating networks

Research and development (R&D) collaboration between universities and business is a vital form of new knowledge creation in knowledge-intensive high-technology business environments. Increasingly, collaboration occurs in networks. A key element in forming these collaborate networks is shared knowledge creation, which is dependent on the Ba, the SECI process, and knowledge assets. This paper argues that Ba plays a major role for successful knowledge creation through R&D collaboration between university and business. A Ba is a perception of a place – which can be virtual – and a shared purpose. The absence of a Ba is a significant barrier to success, but building a Ba takes collaborative time and effort. This paper addresses the problems in the successful formation of such networks based on insights from biotechnology, an area where this type of collaboration has been and still is common, but not always successful or unproblematic.     

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate: how teenagers justified their decision

This article reports on a study of how teenagers made their decision on whether or not to vaccinate themselves against the new influenza. Its purpose was to identify connections between how teenagers talk about themselves and the decision they made. How do the teenagers construct their identities while talking about a specific socio-scientific issue? Seven teenagers between 17 and 19 years of age participated in the study. The informants were requested to document in video diary situations in which their decisions about the vaccination were discussed. All the teenagers recorded their diaries during the weeks of the vaccination programme. The students were also interviewed 1–4 weeks after completing their diaries. A discourse psychology framework (Potter and Wetherell 1987) was used to analyse the video diaries and the interviews. In this context, decision-making on a socioscientific issue must be understood as an appropriation and use of discursive repertoires, and also as meaning-making in relation to other fields, such as society and identity. It must also be understood in relation to the use of science repertoire—or actually, the school science repertoire—how available is this discourse in different contexts outside school? The repertoires were categorised into two main types; experienced emphases and important actors. The first included the categories of risk, solidarity and knowledge. The second included family and friends, media, school and society. The school repertoire was seldom used by the students, indicating that school and science education seem not to be an interpretative repertoire available to them. Instead, the risk, solidarity, family and friends and the media repertoires were available in their talk about vaccination. These results indicate the need to use media reports in dealing with scientific literacy and also in risk assessment discussions in school. It also indicates the importance of relating school science closely to the students’ daily life.     

The importance and degree of implementation of the European standards and guidelines for internal quality assurance in universities: the views of Portuguese academics

Abstract

The article aims at critically discussing the role and position of a buffer agency from the point of view of some of its different tasks, viz. accreditation, quality audit, support of academic leadership and internal quality enhancement The contribution seeks to illuminate the conflicting roles of a buffer orgamsation in the light of these tasks and pressures from the government and higher education institutions. It concludes that the different roles can support and complement each other, and that change is best accomplished by emphasising support in the early stages of the establishment of a national quality assurance system.