On the management of open innovation

In an open innovation relationship, the party that owns a key asset enjoys bargaining power that discourages the investments of the other party in the collaboration. We show that these incentives can be restored by conferring on the weak party the power to take decisions during the research process – e.g., a pharmaceutical firm with manufacturing and commercialization assets offers the direction of a joint research project to a biotech partner. However, on many occasions, the strong party still captures more value from the collaboration by retaining the power to take decisions during research even if it produces less innovation value and fewer aggregate profits. We conclude that the potential of open innovation is underexploited. In particular, owners may not release enough power to take decisions on the use of their assets.     

Nearest neighbor search in metric spaces through Content-Addressable Networks

Most of the Peer-to-Peer search techniques proposed in the recent years have focused on the single-key retrieval. However, similarity search in metric spaces represents an important paradigm for content-based retrieval in many applications. In this paper we introduce an extension of the well-known Content-Addressable Network paradigm to support storage and retrieval of more generic metric space objects. In particular we address the problem of executing the nearest neighbors queries, and propose three different algorithms of query execution. An extensive experimental study on real-life data sets explores the performance characteristics of the proposed algorithms by showing their advantages and disadvantages.     

Continuity and discontinuity in competing models of criminal justice education: Evidence from illinois

Competing models of criminal justice education have been conceptualized to exist for many years. Relevant empirical data to support this notion can be identified in the literature, especially data derived from early surveys of criminal justice educators and content analyses of criminal justice curricula as found across institutions of higher education. Using contemporary survey data from criminal justice faculty members in the state of Illinois, the authors attempt to assess whether the evolution of criminal justice education has resulted in contemporary demarcations and models of criminal justice education that differ from those identified in the earlier literature. The survey data suggest strong patterns, some of which differ from those identified previously. Four models of criminal justice education emerging from the data are discussed, and their implications for criminal justice education are highlighted.     

Thematic Network E4¹: an effective tool to improve EE in Europe

Among all TN projects approved and running under SOCRATES II, E4 offers the widest perspective over all Engineering/Technology education fields covering relevant and transversal issues, which are definitely not branch specific. The paper first introduces the general aim of the project, underlining the meaning of the European Dimension of EE (Engineering Education), to facilitate greater mobility of skilled personnel and ensuring integration of the different systems throughout the continent. Innovative contributions to international dimension and curriculum development, high standards, quality insurance and accreditation, use of ICT tools are the main subjects of the Network activities: these are described in details in section 2, which is followed by the strategic approach and principal outcomes (section 3 and 4 respectively). Organisation and dissemination are also key aspects of the project, dealt by 3 Transversal Actions, common to all activities and supporting the working groups outcomes, enhancing visibility.     

Three-dimensional modelling of statues: the Minerva of Arezzo

The Minerva of Arezzo is an ancient bronze statue located at the Museo Archeologico in Florence and currently under repair at the Restoration Centre of the Soprintendenza Archeologica of the Tuscany Region. We assembled a complete three-dimensional (3D) digital model of the Minerva before the restoration started. More 3D models will be produced to keep track of the variations that occurred during the restoration process, up to the final acquisition of the form of the restored artwork. The modelling of the Minerva will be the focal point of an ambitious “Minerva Project” that involves the integration of data from other sources in a 3D digital model of the object. Besides this, the project is aimed at showing how 3D techniques can be used to design useful and easily manageable new tools for the diagnostics of archaeological objects. 3D measurements have been realized by means of a high-resolution laser scanner developed at National Institute for Applied Optics (INOA). The instrument is composed of commercial low-cost components in order to be competitive with the very expensive commercial devices. Besides this, our scanner is supported by an efficient and flexible software developed by Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) that supports all the post-processing phases of a 3D scanning session (range data alignment, merge and simplification).     

Perspectives on human and social capital theories and the role of education: An approach from Mediterranean thought

Current discussions about education suggest that a transformative pedagogy that goes beyond the acquisition of knowledge and skills is needed. However, there is no agreement as to the inputs needed for a correct development of the educational model. In this sense, we can identify the presence of two different approaches to human and social capital which embody distinct educational worldviews. On the one hand, the ‘Marketable Human Capital’ or ‘Personal Culture’ approach, and on the other hand, the ‘Non-Marketable Human Capital’ or ‘Civic Culture’ approach. The first, which is linked to mainstream economic theory, sees education as any stock of knowledge that contributes to an improvement in the productivity of the worker and individual well-being. The second, which is rooted in the Mediterranean tradition of political thought, highlights the role of civic virtues, reciprocity, and public action within the educational process and its influence on public happiness. In this article, we analyse these connections in order to introduce the eighteenth-century Mediterranean tradition of economic thought into discussions about human and social capital theories and the role of education in them. Focusing on education through these prisms, national and international agendas must be reoriented towards the integral development of people to include broader global debates.     

Application of functional principal component analysis in race walking: An emerging methodology

This study considered the problem of identifying and evaluating the factors of individual performance during race walking. In particular, the study explored the use of functional principal component analysis (f-PCA), a multivariate data analysis, for assessing and classifying the kinematics and kinetics of the knee joint in competitive race walkers. Seven race walkers of international and national level participated to the study. An optoelectronic system and a force platform were used to capture three-dimensional kinematics and kinetics of lower limbs during the race walking cycle. Functional principal component analysis was applied bilaterally to the sagittal knee angle and net moment data, because knee joint motion is fundamental to race walking technique. Scatterplots of principal component scores provided evidence of athletes' technical differences and asymmetries even when traditional analysis (mean ± s curves) was not effective. Principal components provided indications for race walkers' classification and identified potentially important technical differences between higher and lower skilled athletes. Therefore, f-PCA might represent a future aid for the fine analysis of sports movements, if consistently applied to performance monitoring.     

A comparative analysis of the efficiency of national education systems

The present study assesses the performance of 54 participating countries in PISA 2006. It employs efficiency indicators that relate result variables with resource variables used in the production of educational services. Desirable outputs of educational achievement and undesirable outputs of educational inequality are considered jointly as result variables. A construct that captures the quality and quantity of educational resources consumed is used as resource variables. Similarly, environmental variables of each educational system are included in the efficiency evaluation model; while these resources are not controllable by the managers of the education systems, they do affect outcomes. We find that European countries are characterized by weak management, the Americans (mainly Latin Americans) by a weak endowment of resources, and the Asians by a high level of heterogeneity. In particular, Asia combines countries with optimal systems (South Korea and Macao-China); countries with managerial problems (Hong Kong, China-Taipei, Japan and Israel); others where the main challenge is the weak endowment of resources (Jordan and Kyrgyzstan), and, finally, others where the main problem is in the long run since it concerns structural conditions of a socioeconomic and cultural nature (Turkey, Thailand, and Indonesia).     

Multidimensional profiles of learning orientations and school achievement: a person-oriented approach in middle-school students

A person-oriented approach was applied to the study of early adolescents’ learning orientations to identify different profiles and their association with school achievement. A total of 244 middle-school students (male: 128; female: 116; M-age ± SD = 12.51 ± .93) completed a self-report questionnaire to explore cognitive, metacognitive, and affective dimensions of learning orientations. School achievements were collected in a range of school subjects. Cluster analyses and one-way MANOVA were carried out to verify the existence of profiles. Chi-square tests were used to test the association between profiles of learning orientations and school achievement. The results showed two profiles differently associated with school achievement: students “Dragged by the current” (Profile 1) showed low school achievement across school subjects, meanwhile students “At the helm” (Profile 2) reached excellent school achievement. In promoting middle-school students’ achievement, it is important for teachers to consider students’ profiles of learning orientations.