Small Worlds in Networks of Inventors and the Role of Science: An Analysis of France.

· Using data on patent applications at European Patent Office, we examine the structural properties of networks of inventors in France in different technologies, and how they depend from the inventive activity of scientists from universities and public research organizations (PROs). We revisit earlier findings on small world properties of social networks of inventors, and propose more rigorous tests of such hypothesis. We find that academic and PRO inventors contribute significantly to patenting in science‐based fields. Such contribution is decisive for the emergence of small world properties.networks, inventors, academic patenting, small world.

Developing Basic Space Science World Wide: Progress Report

The UN/ESA Workshops on Basic Space Science is a long-term effort for the development of astronomy and regional and international co-operation in this field on a world wide basis, particularly in developing nations. The first four workshops in this series (India 1991, Costa Rica and Colombia 1992, Nigeria 1993, and Egypt 1994) addressed the status of astronomy in Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and Western Asia, respectively. One major recommendation that emanated from the first four workshops was that small astronomical facilities should be established in developing nations for research and education programmes at the university level and that such facilities should be networked. Subsequently, material for teaching and observing programmes for small optical telescopes were developed or recommended and astronomical telescope facilities have been inaugurated at UN/ESA Workshops on Basic Space Science in Sri Lanka (1995), Honduras (1997), and Jordan (1999). UN/ESA Workshops on Basic Space Science in Germany (1996), France (2000), Mauritius (2001), Argentina (2002), and P.R. China (2004) emphasised the particular importance of astrophysical data systems and the virtual observatory concept for the development of astronomy on a world wide basis. Since 1996, the workshops are contributing to the development of the World Space Observatory concept. Achievements of the series of workshops are briefly summarised in this report.Comment: 3 page

Small-Angle Scattering and Diffusion: Application to Relativistic Shock Acceleration

We investigate ways of accurately simulating the propagation of energetic charged particles over small times where the standard Monte Carlo approximation to diffusive transport breaks down. We find that a small-angle scattering procedure with appropriately chosen step-lengths and scattering angles gives accurate results, and we apply this to the simulation of propagation upstream in relativistic shock acceleration.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, proceedings of World Space Environment Forum (WSEF2002) to appear in Space Science Reviews, accepte

TU Graz: Course: 707.000 Web Science and Web Technology: Lecture 2: Small World Problem

We will discuss several examples and research efforts related to the small world problem and set the ground for our discussion of network theory and social network analysis. Readings: An Experimental Study of the Small World Problem, J. Travers and S. Milgram Sociometry 32 425-443 (1969) [Protected Access] Optional: The Strength of Weak Ties, M.S. Granovetter The American Journal of Sociology 78 1360--1380 (1973) [Protected Access] Optional: Worldwide Buzz: Planetary-Scale Views on an Instant-Messaging Network, J. Leskovec and E. Horvitz MSR-TR-2006-186. Microsoft Research, June 2007. [Web Link, the most recent and comprehensive study on the subject!] Originally from: http://kmi.tugraz.at/staff/markus/courses/SS2008/707.000_web-science

Using Technology to Enhance Pre-Service Teacher Preparation

Use of the internet to deliver a portion of the content in an introductory science, education, and technology methods course for pre-service teachers provides an opportunity for a much needed introduction to basic computer literacy. A web page was developed for use in conjunction with the math, science, and technology educational methods courses at Brooklyn College. Students are introduced to this page as a group in the computer lab, and work in small groups with more experienced students serving as mentors to other students. The Brooklyn College Science Education Webpage is designed as a simple jump page with links to various resources for science education. It serves as a starting point to expose pre-service teachers to a wide range of resources available to them on the world wide web and in the real world. Students use their internet research skills in open-ended assignments throughout the semester. The web page continues to serve as a resource for students in the next courses in the math and science education sequence. The Brooklyn College Science Education Webpage helps education graduates to begin their teaching better prepared to use technology in the classroom

Twenty years of "Lipid World": a fertile partnership with David Deamer

"The Lipid World" was published in 2001, stemming from a highly effective collaboration with David Deamer during a sabbatical year 20 years ago at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. The present review paper highlights the benefits of this scientific interaction and assesses the impact of the lipid world paper on the present understanding of the possible roles of amphiphiles and their assemblies in the origin of life. The lipid world is defined as a putative stage in the progression towards life's origin, during which diverse amphiphiles or other spontaneously aggregating small molecules could have concurrently played multiple key roles, including compartment formation, the appearance of mutually catalytic networks, molecular information processing, and the rise of collective self-reproduction and compositional inheritance. This review brings back into a broader perspective some key points originally made in the lipid world paper, stressing the distinction between the widely accepted role of lipids in forming compartments and their expanded capacities as delineated above. In the light of recent advancements, we discussed the topical relevance of the lipid worldview as an alternative to broadly accepted scenarios, and the need for further experimental and computer-based validation of the feasibility and implications of the individual attributes of this point of view. Finally, we point to possible avenues for exploring transition paths from small molecule-based noncovalent structures to more complex biopolymer-containing proto-cellular systems.711473 - Minerva Foundation; 80NSSC17K0295, 80NSSC17K0296, 1724150 - National Science FoundationPublished versio

The Local Emergence and Global Diffusion of Research Technologies: An Exploration of Patterns of Network Formation

Grasping the fruits of "emerging technologies" is an objective of many government priority programs in a knowledge-based and globalizing economy. We use the publication records (in the Science Citation Index) of two emerging technologies to study the mechanisms of diffusion in the case of two innovation trajectories: small interference RNA (siRNA) and nano-crystalline solar cells (NCSC). Methods for analyzing and visualizing geographical and cognitive diffusion are specified as indicators of different dynamics. Geographical diffusion is illustrated with overlays to Google Maps; cognitive diffusion is mapped using an overlay to a map based on the ISI Subject Categories. The evolving geographical networks show both preferential attachment and small-world characteristics. The strength of preferential attachment decreases over time, while the network evolves into an oligopolistic control structure with small-world characteristics. The transition from disciplinary-oriented ("mode-1") to transfer-oriented ("mode-2") research is suggested as the crucial difference in explaining the different rates of diffusion between siRNA and NCSC

Using Spectral Radius Ratio for Node Degree to Analyze the Evolution of Scale Free Networks and Small World Networks

In this paper, we show the evaluation of the spectral radius for node degree as the basis to analyze the variation in the node degrees during the evolution of scale-free networks and small-world networks. Spectral radius is the principal eigenvalue of the adjacency matrix of a network graph and spectral radius ratio for node degree is the ratio of the spectral radius and the average node degree. We observe a very high positive correlation between the spectral radius ratio for node degree and the coefficient of variation of node degree (ratio of the standard deviation of node degree and average node degree). We show how the spectral radius ratio for node degree can be used as the basis to tune the operating parameters of the evolution models for scale-free networks and small-world networks as well as evaluate the impact of the number of links added per node introduced during the evolution of a scale-free network and evaluate the impact of the probability of rewiring during the evolution of a small-world network from a regular network.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, Second International Conference on Computer Science and Information Technology, (COSIT-2015), Geneva, Switzerland, March 21-22, 201