Effects of R&D and networking on the export decision of Japanese firms

This paper examines how internal R&D intensity and external networking channels are related with the firm's export decision, based on a large firm-level data set covering all manufacturing industries in Japan without any firm-size threshold. Internal R&D is not the only determinant of exporting, while it is strongly related with exports in the science-based sector. Collaborations with other firms on joint projects and operations of subsidiaries overseas are significantly linked to exports of large-sized firms, while affiliations with business associations and R&D intensity are critical for small-sized firms to export. Connections with computer networks have a weaker impact.     

Computer experiences and attitudes of Japanese pharmacy students

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the computer experiences and attitudes of first- and fourth-year Japanese pharmacy students. An existing questionnaire that asked questions about computer hardware and software owned, reported level of expertise with software applications, attitudes and concerns about computers, and demographic information was translated into Japanese. After ensuring the accuracy of the translation, first- and fourth-year pharmacy students completed the survey. This study found that most of these Japanese pharmacy students did not frequently use computers. About one-quarter of the students owned a home computer. Slightly more than 10% of the students reported that they could use word processing programs. Their attitudes about computers were positive. Most stated that they should possess basic computer skills when graduating from pharmacy school. The students also indicated that they would rather learn from computers than attend lectures or read texts or journals. However, 63 first-year (32%) and 45 fourth-year (43.7%) students said that microcomputers were too complicated for them to use     

A Critique of Modern Education,with Special Reference to the East

The population of urban migrants in developing countries has received little specific notice within the field of adult education, although, because of its size and importance to the economic and social development of much of the world, this group deserves significant attention. Examination of urban migrants as learners provides important insight for policies and programmes that support developing their creative potential, building on individual and community strengths. Two characteristics of the motivation and learning needs of urban migrants stand out. First, individual characteristics relating to personality or motivation somehow differentiate migrants from non‐migrants, beyond generalized economic or macro‐level factors that affect migration decisions. On the other hand, it appears that group learning processes that incorporate the participation of the members and build on their networks, motivation, and coping skills, are particularly effective. Both of these aspects are important in identifying appropriate policies and programmes that stimulate the positive potential of this group. This paper examines evidence related to the demographic and cognitive characteristics of the urban migrant population in developing countries, how these relate to the learning tasks facing this group, and the implications for successful adult education programmes. In addition, these characteristics have implications for broader policies designed to take advantage of the role that communities of urban migrants can play, within a more participative development approach.     

A supporting system for effective construction and sharing of scientific databases by general researchers

A supporting system is presented for effective construction and sharing of scientific databases in a research environment, where various databases are constructed by general users who are often not familiar with the Information Retrieval System (IRS) (ORION) and the DataBase Management System (DBMS) (ADABAS). Although the general-purpose commercial IRS and DBMS are useful for scientific use, their DBA interfaces are not convenient for general users, and expert's assistance is required in database management. Therefore, we have adopted ORION and ADABAS as basic software and implemented a supporting system called COMDBS (Controlling Monitor of DataBase Systems). It consists of a database called DBAT (DataBase Administration Table) storing dictionary information on the individual databases and a set of commands for their effective construction and utilization. DBAT is accessed in executing the commands, and necessary controls are made automatically. With the assistance of COMDBS, users can construct and share their databases easily by themselves with full functions of ORION and ADABAS. Now, at the Hokkaido University Computing Center, about 30 databases have been constructed by general users.     

Fatigue and fracture behavior of nickel-based superalloy Inconel 718 up to the very high cycle regime

The fatigue and fracture behavior of nickel-based superalloy Inconel 718 was investigated up to the very high cycle regime under rotary bending tests at room temperature. It was found that this superalloy can still fracture after exceeding 107 cycles. Fractographic analysis revealed that there was a transition from fatigue crack initiation at multi-sites to single initiation with decreasing stress levels. The fracture surface can be divided into four areas according to the appearance, associated with fracture mechanics analysis of the corresponding stress intensity factors. The fracture mechanism dominant in each area was disclosed by scanning electron microscope examination and analyzed in comparison with those obtained from the crack growth tests. Subsequently, life prediction modeling was proposed by estimating the crack initiation and propagation stage respectively. It was found that Chan （2003）＇s model for initiation life and the Paris law for growth life can provide comparable predictions against the experimental life.     

Growth mechanism of a preferentially oriented mordenite membrane

INTRODUCTION Zeolite membranes have been investigated formany years due to their promising applications inseparations (Tavolaro and Drioli, 1999) and mem-brane reactors (Coronas and Santamaria, 1999). Oneof the challenges in the preparation of zeolite mem-branes is the control of the crystal orientation, espe-cially for zeolites that have an anisotropic porestructure (Caro et al., 2000). An ideal case is that thechannels in the zeolite crystals are perpendicular tothe support surfa…