Soft Power, World System Dynamics, and Democratization: A Bass Model of Democracy Diffusion 1800-2000

This article uses Polity IV data to probe system dynamics for studies of the global diffusion of democracy from 1800 to 2000. By analogy with the Bass model of diffusion of innovations, as translated into system dynamics by Sterman, the dynamic explanation proposed focuses on transitions to democracy, soft power, and communication rates on a global level. The analysis suggests that the transition from democratic experiences (\'the soft power of democracy\') can be estimated from the systems dynamics simulation of an extended Bass model. Soft power, fueled by the growth in communications worldwide, is today the major force behind the diffusion of democracy. Our findings indicate the applicability of system dynamics simulation tools for the analysis of political change over time in the world system of polities.Democracy, Bass, Communication, System Dynamics, Power, Diffusion

Integrated Product Policy and Environmental Product Innovations: An Empirical Analysis

The European Commission has recently stepped up its promotion of the ?Integrated Product Policy?. The objective of the IPP is to support the realisation of environmental product innovations and thus to achieve a broad reduction of all environmental impacts throughout a product?s life cycle. Based on a unique company level data set for the German manufacturing sector, this paper empirically examines the relationship between environmental organisational measures regarded as IPP measures by the European Commission and environmental product innovations. According to the econometric analysis, the certification of environmental management systems has a significantly positive effect on environmental product innovations. Waste disposal measures or product take-back systems appear to be an even more important driver of environmental product innovations. The econometric analysis also shows that other factors that have been suggested in the literature, such as environmental policy, technology push and market pull, as well as other specific company characteristics have a significantly positive influence on environmental product innovations. According to the descriptive analysis of environmental product innovators, economic aspects (i.e. higher prices) rather than soft factors appear to be the major obstacles to the commercial exploitation of environmental products and thus also to environmental product innovations. --Integrated Product Policy,Product Innovation,Environmental Innovation,Innovation Management,Technological Innovation,Discrete Choice Models

The role of innovation on Bicycle Commuting in Portugal

New models of innovation and strategies of soft mobility, with the objective of lowering CO2 emissions and noise pollution, eliminate traffic congestion and increase public health, support the development of sustainable cities. In Portugal, car is the most used mode of transport for daily commuting and the rate of cycling for everyday travel is 1%, while the average in Europe is 8%. This research aimed to investigate the role of innovation and its contribution to the raise of bicycle commuting in Portugal. Methods comprise research mixed methods, both quantitative and qualitative, based on secondary data research and the elaboration of an online survey. The analysis of Portuguese public policies, bicycle industry innovations and bike commuting related initiatives over the past 10 years illustrates how much has been done. However, that is not enough to enhance bike commuting to the European average levels. It was, therefore, crucial to understand the commuters’ motives and barriers that undermine the use of bicycles as a means of transport, as well as innovations that contributed to bike commuting. Innovative knowledge and innovative technologies applied to the level of bicycle commuting could lead to disruptive innovation at different levels, such as legislation, promotion of safety and surveillance, bicycle and accessories, mobile applications and websites, infrastructures, intermodal transport or initiatives to promote bike as a mode of transport. The coordination of these innovations and measures, between public and private sectors, are crucial to make the shift to soft mobility aligned with European policy orientations

Inovasi Pembelajaran Al-Islam Dan Kemuhammadiyahan Berbasis Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka Untuk Peningkatan Soft Skill Mahasiswa

The independent campus learning policy (MBKM) requires changes to the curriculum and learning models in higher education, including Al-Islam and Kemuhammadiyahan (AIK) learning innovations at Muhammadiyah University (Unismuh) Makassar. There is a meeting point between the AIK Education Guidelines prepared by the PP Muhammadiyah Diktilitbang Council and the MBKM Program implemented by the Ministry of Education and Culture-Ristek of the Republic of Indonesia, namely that both require a learning model that is varied, fun, based on direct experience, contextual, and focused on needs. This study used descriptive qualitative method. Data was collected through observation, interviews and document analysis. The results of this research found that Al-Islam and Muhammadiyahan learning innovations based on the Merdeka Belajar Independent Campus at Unismuh Makassar were implemented in various forms and provided space for students to develop various soft skills such as discipline, honesty, empathy, social awareness, effective communication, cooperation, and problem solving skills

An Automatic Level Set Based Liver Segmentation from MRI Data Sets

A fast and accurate liver segmentation method is a challenging work in medical image analysis area. Liver segmentation is an important process for computer-assisted diagnosis, pre-evaluation of liver transplantation and therapy planning of liver tumors. There are several advantages of magnetic resonance imaging such as free form ionizing radiation and good contrast visualization of soft tissue. Also, innovations in recent technology and image acquisition techniques have made magnetic resonance imaging a major tool in modern medicine. However, the use of magnetic resonance images for liver segmentation has been slow when we compare applications with the central nervous systems and musculoskeletal. The reasons are irregular shape, size and position of the liver, contrast agent effects and similarities of the gray values of neighbor organs. Therefore, in this study, we present a fully automatic liver segmentation method by using an approximation of the level set based contour evolution from T2 weighted magnetic resonance data sets. The method avoids solving partial differential equations and applies only integer operations with a two-cycle segmentation algorithm. The efficiency of the proposed approach is achieved by applying the algorithm to all slices with a constant number of iteration and performing the contour evolution without any user defined initial contour. The obtained results are evaluated with four different similarity measures and they show that the automatic segmentation approach gives successful results

Estudo de modelos de previsão tecnológica aplicados à substituição de embalagens de refrigerantes para o mercado brasileiro

ABSTRACTA study of technological forecast models applied to soft-drinks packaging substitution in the Brazilian marketGiven the continuous changes of the competitive arena generated by the frequent innovations in products and services in the marketplace, forecasting techniques have undoubtedly become a very important source of strategic decision-making support. This study analyzes the importance of the non-linear technological forecast models of Gompertz and the Fisher-Pry, based on the substitution of technologies and applied to the beverage packaging segment. The authors provide a review of the literature on the subject and then analyze the context of the studied segment, i.e., soft drinks, Brazil’s biggest beverage market and the world’s third ranking one. Using the methodology of quantitative analysis of the historical series of data of the relative share of the different packaging technologies, the authors identify the model with the best fit regarding the replacement of glass packaging, predominant at the beginning of the historical series, by PET packaging, the substitute technology, in the soft-drinks segment and provide an estimate up to 2010. Finally, an analysis correlating the models with the best fit and the particularities of the markets is also provided. The conclusion is that the models work well in terms of technological forecasting, provided the dynamics of substitution are properly understood, and that they aid decision-making that has an impact upon strategic actions

THE NEXUS BETWEEN KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND INNOVATION. A LITERATURE REVIEW

Knowledge management is the new managerial discipline whose aim is to support the processes of knowledge exploitation, memorization, re-use and learning. Therefore, it can be said that knowledge management has, implicitly or explicitly, a strong relationship with innovation management. Despite this fact, knowledge management and innovation management have developed into two separate fields and two distinct contexts of research. Starting from these assumptions, the purpose of this paper is to examine how the connection between knowledge management (KM) and innovation management has been developed in the last 10 years. In order to achieve our goal, an etic approach is employed which encompasses an external view of meaning associations and real-world events. The research combines the qualitative with the quantitative perspective and the whole multi-stage process is dominated by an inductive approach. The analysis focuses on 894 articles that were published in knowledge management and innovation journals, mostly indexed in Scopus and Thomson Reuters databases, during 2006 - 2016. The main results prove that there is a strong connection between KM and innovation management although the number of KM journals that approach topics related to innovation is higher than the number of innovation journals that focus on knowledge-related issues. The concept of "innovation" is by far the most used in the analyzed KM papers, while the term of "knowledge" is frequently used as a generic keyword in the Innovation papers; only a few papers are about a specific topic such as product development, project management, and process improvement - in the case of KM journals - or organizational learning, social capital, and human capital - in the case of Innovation journals. The research findings have both theoretical and practical implications. On the one hand, it synthesizes how the link between knowledge management and innovation management evolved in the last 10 years. On the other hand, it may serve as a handbook of managerial guidelines; it brings forward the knowledge management approaches and tools which can be used for product or process innovations

Draft Genome of the Leopard Gecko, \u3cem\u3eEublepharis Macularius\u3c/em\u3e

Background Geckos are among the most species-rich reptile groups and the sister clade to all other lizards and snakes. Geckos possess a suite of distinctive characteristics, including adhesive digits, nocturnal activity, hard, calcareous eggshells, and a lack of eyelids. However, one gecko clade, the Eublepharidae, appears to be the exception to most of these ‘rules’ and lacks adhesive toe pads, has eyelids, and lays eggs with soft, leathery eggshells. These differences make eublepharids an important component of any investigation into the underlying genomic innovations contributing to the distinctive phenotypes in ‘typical’ geckos. Findings We report high-depth genome sequencing, assembly, and annotation for a male leopard gecko, Eublepharis macularius (Eublepharidae). Illumina sequence data were generated from seven insert libraries (ranging from 170 to 20 kb), representing a raw sequencing depth of 136X from 303 Gb of data, reduced to 84X and 187 Gb after filtering. The assembled genome of 2.02 Gb was close to the 2.23 Gb estimated by k-mer analysis. Scaffold and contig N50 sizes of 664 and 20 kb, respectively, were compble to the previously published Gekko japonicus genome. Repetitive elements accounted for 42 % of the genome. Gene annotation yielded 24,755 protein-coding genes, of which 93 % were functionally annotated. CEGMA and BUSCO assessment showed that our assembly captured 91 % (225 of 248) of the core eukaryotic genes, and 76 % of vertebrate universal single-copy orthologs. Conclusions Assembly of the leopard gecko genome provides a valuable resource for future comptive genomic studies of geckos and other squamate reptiles