Externalities in North-South technology transfer: the case of CNG engines in Iran

This contribution focuses on illuminating the challenges and difficulties of North-South technology transfer. The central message of this paper is that North-South technology transfer is not simply a contract between two transacting firms and does not depend only on intra-firm and inter-firm factors. The process may also be influenced by a number of external factors, beyond the control or power of project managers. However, understanding of these external factors greatly influences the success of firms' technological development. These externalities could arise from North-South contexts variances, international atmosphere and even by different levels of both sides' actors involved in the process. Using an in-depth case study analysis for collaboration between Iranian and German companies, this article develops a clearer understanding of external factors which affect the cross-border technology transfer process

What determines the specificity of conflict adaptation? A review, critical analysis, and proposed synthesis

Over the past decade, many cognitive control researchers have studied to what extent adaptations to conflict are domain-general or rather specific, mostly by testing whether or not the congruency sequence effect (CSE) transfers across different conditions (e.g., conflict type, task sets, contexts, et cetera). The CSE refers to the observation that congruency effects in conflict tasks tend to be reduced following incongruent relative to following congruent trials, and is considered a prime measure of cognitive control. By investigating the transfer of this CSE across different conflict types, tasks, or contexts, researchers made several inferences about the scope of cognitive control. This method gained popularity during the last few years, spawning an interesting, yet seemingly inconsistent set of results. Consequently, these observations gave rise to a number of equally divergent theories about the determinants and scope of conflict adaptation. In this review, we offer a systematic overview of these past studies, as well as an evaluation of the theories that have been put forward to account for the results. Finally, we propose an integration of these various theoretical views in a unifying framework that centers on the role of context (dis)similarity. This framework allows us to generate new predictions about the relation between task or context similarity and the scope of cognitive control. Specifically, while most theories imply that increasing contextual differences will result in reduced transfer of the CSE, we propose that context similarity and across-context control follow a U-shaped function instead

A reliable multicast for XTP

Multicast services needed for current distributed applications on LAN's fall generally into one of three categories: datagram, semi-reliable, and reliable. Transport layer multicast datagrams represent unreliable service in which the transmitting context 'fires and forgets'. XTP executes these semantics when the MULTI and NOERR mode bits are both set. Distributing sensor data and other applications in which application-level error recovery strategies are appropriate benefit from the efficiency in multidestination delivery offered by datagram service. Semi-reliable service refers to multicasting in which the control algorithms of the transport layer--error, flow, and rate control--are used in transferring the multicast distribution to the set of receiving contexts, the multicast group. The multicast defined in XTP provides semi-reliable service. Since, under a semi-reliable service, joining a multicast group means listening on the group address and entails no coordination with other members, a semi-reliable facility can be used for communication between a client and a server group as well as true peer-to-peer group communication. Resource location in a LAN is an important application domain. The term 'semi-reliable' refers to the fact that group membership changes go undetected. No attempt is made to assess the current membership of the group at any time--before, during, or after--the data transfer

Analysis of the Effects of Formative Assessment in Promoting Transfer of Learning in an Undergraduate General Microbiology Laboratory Course

The undergraduate microbiology lab serves an important role in establishing a foundation of best practices in aseptic technique and infection control for pre-medical, pre-nursing, pre-pharmacy, or pre-allied health students. The high incidence of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) in the US and evidence in the literature of less effective implementation of proper aseptic technique among apprentice doctors and nursing students suggests that more effective transfer of learning could improve implementation of these procedures in the clinical setting. The research described in this study aimed to assess learning transfer as it applied to aseptic techniques and infection control skills learned in the undergraduate microbiology lab from pre- and post-lab formative assessments to midterm and lab practical summative assessments. Assisting students in building connections between the aseptic techniques learned in general microbiology and their application in the clinical setting through pre-lab formative assessments and reflective practices may lead to improvements in use of aseptic techniques and infection control measures as they progress into clinical careers and may ultimately reduce infection rates and mortality rates due to HAIs. The first major aim of this study was to explore the experiences of students with respect to learning transfer through qualitative analysis of student responses to post-lab free-response questions regarding difficulties faced in the lab and the relevance of microbiology to students\u27 future careers. The second major aim of this study was to determine if the implementation of an in-class pre-lab formative assessment facilitates learning transfer as evidenced by significant improvements on summative lab midterm and final lab practical exam scores. Qualitative analysis of student responses to open-ended reflection questions indicated evidence of predominantly low-road transfer with respect to transfer of automaticity. Additionally, qualitative analysis of student responses indicated evidence of lateral transfer regarding transfer of complexity. Finally, there was evidence of an evolution from near to far transfer of context indicating that students were able to perceive the application of the knowledge gained in the microbiology lab in contexts similar to the lab as well as contexts outside of the lab. Evidence from student responses suggested that primarily students intending to pursue careers in healthcare fields were able to perceive specific applications of the microbiology lab to their future careers. Further, evidence from student responses suggested that students predominantly had difficulties with procedures, interpretation of results, manual dexterity with microbiological equipment and materials, and expressed the need to practice these procedures and techniques. Statistical analyses provided quantifiable evidence that the implementation of pre-lab quizzes had both a statistically significantly positive impact and a practically positive impact on lab practical final scores in both of the semesters studied as compared to historical control groups with a large effect size. The statistically and practically significant impact of the pre-lab quizzes on lab practical final exams is an important finding and will add to the current literature on the importance of formative assessment in undergraduate microbiology education

Authoritarian Diffusion and Cooperation within International Organisations: Legal Harmonisation of Internet Sovereignty Policies within the Countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

This paper explores the concept of "internet sovereignty" as developed and endorsed by the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). First, the concept is shown to have developed as a synthesis between the restrictive Chinese internet governance model based on the "Golden Shield" and Russian conceptions of national "information spheres". Research then shows how this "sovereignty" model serves to legitimise refocusing internet governance around the state, allowing for stricter controls on internet access, content, data, and infrastructure in authoritarian contexts. Using causal process tracing, this paper shows that the SCO supports the transfer of digital policy between members based on this normative "sovereignty" model, the alignment of states with the legalised form of this model in institutional documentation, and the transfer of the legitimising "Three Evils" narrative frame. This shows that regional organisations can provide a significant platform for authoritarian learning, which, when successful, helped the regimes of the SCO to find policies to expand and stabilise their control over the digital realm

Understanding the neurocognitive mechanisms of sports performance under pressure through cognitive training

Accumulating research has emphasised that anxiety can profoundly interfere with task performance during sporting competitive contexts. Recent research has implicated disruptions to attentional control in explaining such impairments. The present PhD thesis intended to build upon recent advances in sports science and cognitive affective neuroscience, by marrying theoretical predictions from the Attentional Control Theory (ACT; Eysenck, Derakshan, Santos & Calvo, 2007) with recent developments in cognitive training, to develop lab based training interventions, to improve attentional focus and performance in lab-based and field-based sporting tasks performed under pressure. In doing so, another critical aim of the thesis was to identify potential neurocognitive mechanisms by which the experience of pressure related anxiety in sporting contexts can lead to impairments in motor performance. In Chapter 2, a sample of tennis players undertook training on a novel visual search training task designed to enhance inhibitory control. Transfer effects of training were observed on a lab index of inhibition, tennis performance and gaze behaviours reflecting attentional control in tennis. Results of Chapter 3 in turn revealed that training on a an adaptive working memory training task, resulted in transfer effects on indices of WMC, tennis performance and gaze behaviours. In Chapter 4 an 5 the emphasis was placed on the potential impact of attentional biases on performance under pressure. In Chapter 4, tennis players undertook an Attentional Bias Modification training intervention and results indicated that the intervention elicited significant changes in attentional bias with transfer effects of training also being observed on tennis performance. Finally, in Chapter 5, a study was conducted to explore whether neural markers of cognitive effort and error monitoring would modulate the attentional bias-performance relationship in a sample of experienced tennis players. Result indicated that the relationship between levels of attentional biases and tennis performance was modulated by the N2 as measured on a flanker task. Performance was also associated with participants’ levels of attentional biases which was in turn modulated by their gaze behaviours during the tennis task performed under pressure. Overall, findings from this PhD thesis suggest that it is possible to target specific cognitive mechanisms such as attentional control and attentional biases, using lab based interventions, to enable athletes to cope with the negative impact of competitive pressure on motor performance. Moreover, the current findings provide novel insight into the potential neurocognitive mechanisms that modulate how sports performers respond to competitive pressure

EU Administrative Conditionality and Domestic Downloading - The Limits of Europeanization in Challenging Contexts

How and to what extent have European ideas transformed the political-administrative institutions in the candidate countries in the East? Which conditions work to mitigate and undermine the impact of the European Union (EU) in these contexts? Research on post-communist transformations, by and large, holds EU enlargement as a successful attempt of institutional transfer in the candidate countries. However, while the EU proved to be successful in the first wave of enlargement in the East, we know much less about its effects in ‘borderline’ cases that lack the will and/or the capacity to pursue required reforms, thus posing a real challenge to EU enlargement strategy. The paper aims to trace the effects of enlargement in challenging domestic environments focusing on public administration reform in post-communist Albania. Differently from the classic Europeanization literature, the bottom-up approach used here, seeks to bring to the fore the crucial role of domestic agency to download and sometimes mitigate European transfers in the national arena. Evidence from the case study shows that governing actors have used EU enlargement as a means to further their strategic goals – they have preferred to talk the talk of reform in order to reap the benefits associated with EU integration and broader external assistance, but also resist implementation of new rules that curtail the political control of the state and the ongoing system of spoils built throughout the post-communist transition. The EU’s broad thresholds on administrative reform and the weak association between monitoring of progress and rewards have left ample space for the governing actors to merely pay lip service to the EU prescriptions, while getting full control of a politicized administration.public administration; ideas; East-Central Europe; EU-South-Eastern Europe; EU-South-Eastern Europe; Europeanization; Europeanization

Essays on corporate finance

My dissertation is composed of three corporate finance studies, documenting the effects of firm policies with deep regulatory implications. In particular, I examine corporate actions taken in contexts of distress, such as defaults on syndicated bank loans, or taken in contexts of very asymmetrical information, such as private equity investment and corporate diversification. In syndicated loans, violations of financial covenants lead to the transfer of firm control rights from shareholders to creditors. I find that that firms increase disinvestment following covenant violations, both through asset sales and spin-off equity deals. Divesting firms can anticipate their exit from a default status, through one-off adjustments of their accounting variables. In diversified firms, multiple business centres exist in different divisions. We show that the addition of dedicated financial divisions to nonfinancial conglomerates is shown to have a positive impact in the efficiency of capital allocation within firms, by playing the role of redistributor and common provider of external financing. In private equity, managers and investors are bound by pre-set compensation contracts and governance rules, since the fund’s inception. I study the relationship between compensation, investment strategies and performance in this particular setting, exploring distinct rules for bonus payments

Mathematical skill acquisition: Transfer effects of a computer game based on the components theory of skill acquisition

Research within the field of mathematical learning has often focused on the extent to which knowledge of particular mathematical skills can facilitate the learning of new and unpracticed mathematical skills. Additionally, it has examined the influence of context on learning and the amount of practice necessary for complex skill acquisition to result. This paper provides a review of the research examining mathematical learning, skill acquisition and transfer of skills in a mathematical context. Pertinent theories in the field of cognitive skill acquisition are examined for their ability to explain transfer of skill. The review focuses on factors that influence the acquisition and transfer of skills, including: the impact of task difficulty on learning; the influence of context on skill retention and transfer; and the effect that understanding the underlying concepts of simple tasks has on the learning of complex tasks. The research evidence suggests that transfer of mathematical skill can occur if given the correct conditions. Learning contexts should be sufficiently difficult to result in enhanced learning, and comprehension of underlying strategies necessary for skilled performance of a task will facilitate performance on simpler tasks. The paper concludes that transfer is dependent on the skill that is learned and the manner it is learned in, and further research is needed to investigate how mathematical learning and skill transfer can be enhanced. This study examined mathematical skill transfer facilitated by a mathematical computer game based on Speelman and Kirsner\u27s (2005) Components Theory of Skill Acquisition and Transfer. Two alternative hypotheses were investigated: (1) By mastering mathematical tasks in the experimental computer game, performance would be enhanced on all mathematical problems (multiplication, addition and pictorial) presented in the post-test; and (2) task performance would only be enhanced for the mathematical problems practiced in the computer game. Eighty-four third-grade students from three primary schools in Perth, Western Australia participated in the study. Students engaged in a 5 min pre-test of multiplication, additional and pictorial problems, followed by 30 min of computer game-play of one of three .computer games (experimental mathematical game, comparison mathematical game, and game unrelated to mathematics). They then engaged in a 5 min post-test of multiplication, addition and pictorial problems. Score differences between pre- and post-tests were recorded. A significant difference was identified between the control group game and the comparison mathematical game only, indicating that results did not support either hypotheses. Overall, students in the control group performed more successfully than students in the other groups. This finding was contributed to the low power of the test statistic due to low participant numbers, flaws in the experimental computer game, as well as student motivation and enthusiasm. It was concluded that learning is at its best when students have experienced task mastery and are motivated to take on challenges, however, the study needs to be repeated with more participants and after levels in the experimental computer game are amended

Transferring a Teaching Learning Sequence Between Two Different Educational Contexts : the Case of Greece and Finland

In the present paper, we report on the idea of exchanging educational innovations across European countries aiming to shed light on the following question: how feasible and useful is it to transfer an innovation across different national educational settings? The innovation, in this case, Inquiry-Based Teaching Learning Sequences, is recognized as a crucial component of renewal science teaching in European countries. Two local working groups from two different Universities, in Finland and Greece, were created consisting of researchers and experienced primary teachers. The transfer from Greece to Finland was rather challenging because of the differences between the two educational contexts. The initial, as well as the revised Teaching Learning Sequence, were implemented for 11-12-year-old students including the content to be taught, that is Floating-Sinking phenomena and density, and the learning environment aspects such as learning Control of Variables Strategy. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods was implemented in order to formulate concrete recommendations on feasible and useful aspect. The feasible aspect adduces answers to the query of "how" this transfer worked in practice. Concerning this aspect, the recognition of what is innovative for each national partner was recognized as a crucial factor for the design and revision of both Teaching Learning Sequences. The useful aspect illuminates students' improvement in the achievement of conceptual as well as procedural knowledge. The results revealed that the psychological paths that bring about this success are ecumenical and independent of the history of the educational group.Peer reviewe