How international is internationally collaborated research? Heritage composition of Russia's international collaboration network

International research performance indicators attain increased attention in science policy. More studies point to ongoing global bias in production, composition and assessment of research performance metrics (Rafols et al., 2012; van Leeuwen et al., 2001). This research examines international collaboration. It is an indicator routinely operationalised as co-authorship of articles between organisations by taking organisational address as a proxy of the collaborating country (Katz and Martin, 1997). We use geographical approximation of author heritage rooted in the morphology of the surname and find that in a significant minority of internationally collaborated papers, co-authors are likely to have the same origin. In other words, we observe an overestimation in the international collaboration indicator. The findings indicate that if a significant share of international collaborations of a national research system occurs with researchers previously affiliated with this system, internationally coauthored publications are therefore only 'inter-national' on a formal inter-organisational level. This contributes to the evidence that stresses more complex nature of scientific collaboration (Bozeman and Corley, 2004) and may have fundamental implications on the use of international collaboration indicator

Using machine learning and text mining to classify fuzzy social science phenomenon : the case of social innovation

Classifying social science concepts by using machine learning and text-mining is often very challenging, particularly due to the fact that social concepts are often defined in a vague manner. In this paper, we put forward a first conceptual step to overcome this challenge. By using the case of social innovation, which has 252 distinct definitions, we qualitatively demonstrated that these definitions group around four different themes where various definitions utilise one or multiple of these criteria in different combinations to define social innovations. We designed an experiment where a database of social innovation projects annotated i) based on an overall understanding and ii) based on a decomposed definition of four criteria. As a next step, we will test the performance of various model specification on these two approaches

How 'inter-national' is international research collaboration?

In the context of the increasing global connectivity in science, this paper investigates the internal heterogeneity of international research collaborations (IRCs). We focus on the prevalence of shared heritage collaborations and the rise of multiple institutional affiliations as a collaboration mechanism. An analytical typology of IRCs based on the characteristics of collaborating researchers' location and heritage is developed and empirically tested on the dataset of Russia's publications in 2015. We found that shared heritage IRC and IRC via multiple affiliations are the cornerstones of internationalisation. Significant structural differences are revealed between conventional IRC and these non-conventional IRCs across fields of science, locations, visibility of international partners, and the sources of funding. These results contribute towards a better understanding of IRC as a complex, heterogeneous phenomenon, which encompasses a variety of arrangements for knowledge creation across borders. A more nuanced understanding of IRC is needed for smarter university strategy, metric development, and policymaking

Institutional change and innovation system transformation: A tale of two academies

AbstractThis paper investigates interactions between institutional adaptation and the transformation of science and innovation systems by analysing change and adjustment in post-socialist science academies. Two leading examples are examined: the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). A heuristic framework of institutional change markers is applied to the analysis of nanotechnology research in both countries. We draw on bibliometric sources, interviews and secondary sources. We find that while the two Academies share a common past as the dominant research agents in their respective systems, their current positions and trajectories now differ. The nanotechnology case shows that CAS has adapted to China's modernisation, engaged in central government policy initiatives, and interacted with other research performers. CAS remains central to the Chinese research system, and has rejuvenated and expanded its resource base. RAS, on the contrary, has taken a protectionist stance: it still dominates the Russian research system and has a strong nanotechnology position, enforced by its gatekeeper control over journal publication. Nevertheless, RAS has faced difficulties in internal modernisation, leading to the external imposition of reforms and further role diminishment. The paper offers comparative insights into processes of institutional adaptation and highlights how key institutions can influence system transition

Graphene enterprise : mapping innovation and business development in a strategic emerging technology

This paper explores enterprise development and commercialization in the field of graphene. Firm characteristics and relationships, value chain positioning, and factors associated with product entry are examines for a set of 65 graphene-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises located in 16 different countries. As well as secondary sources and bibliometric methods to profile developments in graphene, we use computerized data mining and analytical techniques, including cluster and regression modeling, to identify patterns from publicly available online information on enterprise web sites. We identify groups of graphene small and medium-sized enterprises differentiated by how they are involved with graphene, the materials they target, whether they make equipment, and their orientation towards science and intellectual property. In general, access to finance and the firms’ location are significant factors that are associated with graphene product introductions. We also find that patents and scientific publications are not statistically significant predictors of product development in our sample of graphene enterprises. We further identify a cohort of graphene-oriented firms that are signaling plans to develop intermediate graphene products that should have higher value in the marketplace. Our findings suggest that policy needs to ensure attention to the introduction and scale-up of downstream intermediate and final graphene products and associated financial, intermediary, and market identification support. The paper demonstrates novel data methods that can be combined with existing information for real-time intelligence to understand and map enterprise development and commercialization in a rapidly emerging and growing new technology

Institutions for Technology Diffusion

This technical note analyzes international experiences and practices of public technology extension service programs. Technology extension services comprise varied forms of assistance provided directly to enterprises to foster technologi cal modernization and improvement, with a focus on established small and mid-sized enterprises. The note discusses the definitions, rationales, and characteristics of selected technology extension service programs, drawing on examples from Europe, North America, and other regions. It presents four detailed case studies : the U.S. Manufacturing Extension Partnership; the National Research Council - Industrial Research Assistance Program in Canada; England’s Manufacturing Advisory Service; and Tecnalia, an applied technology organization in Spain. The case studies address several program elements including the history and evolution of the program, structure, program scale, financing structure, services and clients, governance, personnel, monitoring, and evaluation. The analysis highlights common and distinctive characteristics as well as program strengths, weaknesses, and key practices. The note provides a framework for positioning technology extension services within the broader mix of policies for technology transfer, business upgrading, and innovation , and offers conclusions and insights to support efforts to strengthen technology extension services in Latin America

THE EFFECT OF 10-WEEK EDUCATIONAL GAMES ON ANTHROPOMETRIC AND FUNDAMENTAL MOTOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

Abstract The aim of this study is to examine the effect of 10-week educational games applied to preschool children on anthropometric and fundamental motor skill development. The sample of the research consisted of a total of 48 children aged 5–6 who attended a private kindergarten. Anthropometric characteristics of the children and measurements related to performance tests, including height, body weight, BMI, chest circumference, waist circumference, and hip circumference, were taken. To measure performance characteristics, sit and reach, horizontal jump, vertical jump, and 10-meter sprint measurements were collected both as pre-tests before the 10-week educational games training and as post-tests after the 10-week educational games training. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS 25.0 program. Descriptive statistics, including means and standard deviations (SD), were calculated for the children's descriptive information. T-tests were applied to the anthropometric measurements before and after the 10-week educational game training. As a result, no significant difference was found between the performance test results of boys and girls. The anthropometric test results of the participants included in the study indicated a significant difference between the pre- and post-test measurements within groups and between groups. When the results of this study were compared with the results of other studies in the literature, the similarities and differences could be explained by factors such as genetics, nutrition, hormones, regional differences, training practices, muscle mass, warm-up, step frequency, physical activity level, psychological condition, differences in talent selection, accuracy of measurements (times, distances, etc.), calibration settings of the test device, temperature, elevation, environment, humidity, psychological condition, and training quality. Keywords: Motor skills1, educational play2, anthropometry3, children4

Building the European Social Innovation Database with natural language processing and machine learning

Social innovation is widely defined as technological and non-technological new products, services or models that simultaneously meet social needs and create new social relationships or collaborations. Despite a significant interest in the concept, the lack of reliable and comprehensive data is a barrier for social science research. We created the European Social Innovation Database (ESID) to address this gap. ESID is based on the idea of large-scale collection of unstructured web site text to classify and characterise social innovation projects from around the world. We use advanced machine learning techniques to extract features such as social innovation dimensions, project locations, summaries, and topics, among others. Our models perform as high as 0.90 F1. ESID currently includes 11,468 projects from 159 countries. ESID data is available freely and also presented in a web-based app. Our future workplan includes expansion (i.e., increasing the number of projects), extension (i.e., adding new variables) and dynamic retrieval (i.e., retrieving and extracting information in regular intervals)

Utjecaj dodatka biljnih ekstrakata na antioksidacijski potencijal, mikrobiološka i senzorska svojstva tekućeg jogurta

The aim of this study was to use various plants to increase the functional properties of yoghurt. The ethanol extracts of three different plant (Mentha piperita L., Ocimum basilicum L., and Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) extracts were added to the stirred type yoghurts at different ratios (0.1%, 0.3% and 0.5%). The pH values, colour values, antioxidant activity, microbial and sensory attributes of yoghurt were evaluated on the storage days of 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28. The lowest pH values were found at the beginning (4.29) and at the end (3.95) of the storage period in samples containing 0.5% hibiscus extract. The addition of plant extracts in amounts of 0.3% and higher decreased the lightness (L*) value of yoghurt (p<0.05), and the maximum decrease was found in yoghurt samples containing 0.5% hibiscus ethanol extract. The concentrations of added mint and basil extracts increased the yellowness (b*) value (p<0.05), while the addition of hibiscus extract significantly increased the redness value (p<0.05). Hibiscus ethanol extract significantly reduced the growth of total aerobic mesophilic bacteria (TAMB), lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and Lactococcus/ Streptococcus bacteria (p<0.05). The antioxidant activity of all samples increased with adding plant extracts. According to the results of sensory analysis, the addition of 0.1% plant extracts to yoghurts rated higher scores than that of the control sample, but the addition of 0.3% and 0.5% ethanol extracts negatively affected the sensory properties. It can be concluded that adding plant extracts had a positive effect on the sensory and functional properties of yoghurt.Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati mogućnost dodatka različitih biljnih ekstakata radi poboljšanja funkcionalnih svojstava jogurta. Tekućem jogurtu dodavani su etanolni ekstrakti triju različitih biljnih vrsta (Mentha piperita L., Ocimum basilicum L. i Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) u različitim omjerima (0,1 %, 0,3 % i 0,5 %). Svim uzorcima jogurta određivani su pH vrijednost, parametri boje, antioksidacijski potencjal, mikrobiološka i senzorska svojstva tijekom perioda čuvanja (0, 7, 14, 21 i 28 dan). Najniže pH vrijednosti utvrđene su na početku (4,29) i na kraju (3,95) skladištenja u uzorcima koji sadrže 0,5 % ekstrakta hibiskusa. Dodavanje biljnih ekstrakata u količini 0,3 % i više smanjilo je vrijednost svjetline (L *) jogurta (p<0,05), a maksimalno smanjenje zabilježeno je u uzorcima jogurta koji sadrže 0,5 % etanolnog ekstrakta hibiskusa. Veće koncentracije dodanih ekstrakta metvice i bosiljka povećavale su vrijednost žutine (b *) (p<0,05), a dodavanje ekstrakta hibiskusa značajno je povećalo vrijednost crvenila (p <0,05). Etanolni ekstrakt hibiskusa značajno je smanjio rast ukupnih aerobnih mezofilnih bakterija (TAMB), bakterija mliječne kiseline (LAB) te laktokoka i streptokoka (p<0,05). Antioksidativni potencijal svih uzoraka povećala se dodatkom biljnog ekstrakta. Prema rezultatima senzorske analize, dodavanje 0,1 % biljnih ekstrakata jogurtima ocijenjeno je višim rezultatima od kontrolnog uzorka, ali dodavanje 0,3 % i 0,5 % ekstrakta negativno je utjecalo na senzorska svojstva. Može se zaključiti da je dodavanje biljnih ekstrakata pozitivno utjecalo na senzorska i funkcionalna svojstva jogurta