R&D and Technology Transfer: Firm-Level Evidence from Chinese Industry

The capacity of developing economies to narrow the gap in living standards with the OECD nations depends critically on their ability to imitate and innovate new technologies. Toward this end, developing economies have access to three avenues of technological advance: technology transfer, domestic R&D, and foreign direct investment. This paper examines the contributions of each of these avenues, as well as their interactions, to productivity and knowledge production within Chinese industry. Based on a large data set for China’s large and medium-size enterprises, the estimation results show that technology transfer – whether domestic or foreign – affects productivity only through its interactions with in-house R&D. Foreign direct investment does not appear to facilitate the adoption of market-mediated foreign technology transfer. Firms wishing to produce patentable knowledge do not benefit from technology transfer; patentable knowledge is created exclusively through in-house R&D operations.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39968/3/wp582.pd

The Sources and Sustainability of China's Economic Growth

China’s economic transformation is proceeding at different rates across different regions and sectors, and China’s most advanced regional sector, coastal industry, still lags well behind the world’s technology frontier. This paper explores the implications of these internal and international productivity disparities for China’s ability to sustain rapid economic growth. When China’s GDP catches up to U.S. GDP, Chinese living standards still will be only one quarter those of the United States. If, at that time, productivity in some major regions and sectors remains far below the average, coastal industry may have to achieve productivity that approaches or even exceeds U.S. productivity. Coastal industry’s productivity growth is then likely to slow substantially, impeding China’s overall economic growth. The paper examines the need for policies that facilitate economic integration across regions, to enable the lagging regions and sectors to catch up to coastal industry, and the prospects for continued institutional reform.China, macroeconomics, economic growth, China GDP

How to Teach Quantum Mechanics

I distinguish between two conceptually different kinds of physical space: a space of ordinary material bodies, which is the space of points at which I could imaginably place (say) the tip of my finger, or the center of a billiard-ball, and a space of elementary physical determinables, which is the smallest space of points such that stipulating what is happening at each one of those points, at every time, amounts to an exhaustive physical history of the universe. In all classical physical theories, these two spaces happen to coincide – and what we mean by calling a theory “classical”, and all we mean by calling a theory “classical”, is (I will argue) precisely that these two spaces coincide. But once the distinction between these two spaces in on the table, it becomes clear that there is no logical or conceptual reason why they must coincide – and it turns out (and this is the main topic of the present paper) that a very simple way of pulling them apart from one another gives us quantum mechanics

How to Teach Quantum Mechanics

I distinguish between two conceptually different kinds of physical space: a space of ordinary material bodies, which is the space of points at which I could imaginably place (say) the tip of my finger, or the center of a billiard-ball, and a space of elementary physical determinables, which is the smallest space of points such that stipulating what is happening at each one of those points, at every time, amounts to an exhaustive physical history of the universe. In all classical physical theories, these two spaces happen to coincide – and what we mean by calling a theory “classical”, and all we mean by calling a theory “classical”, is (I will argue) precisely that these two spaces coincide. But once the distinction between these two spaces in on the table, it becomes clear that there is no logical or conceptual reason why they must coincide – and it turns out (and this is the main topic of the present paper) that a very simple way of pulling them apart from one another gives us quantum mechanics

Assessment of the potential of MERIS near-infrared water vapour products to correct ASAR interferometric measurements

Atmospheric water vapour is a major limitation for high precision Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) applications due to its significant impact on microwave signals. We propose a statistical criterion to test whether an independent water vapour product can reduce water vapour effects on InSAR interferograms, and assess the potential of the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) near-infrared water vapour products for correcting Advanced SAR (ASAR) data. Spatio-temporal comparisons show c. 1.1mm agreement between MERIS and GPS/radiosonde water vapour products in terms of standard deviations. One major limitation with the use of MERIS water vapour products is the frequency of cloud free conditions. Our analysis indicates that in spite of the low global cloud free conditions (~25%), the frequency can be much higher for certain areas such as Eastern Tibet (~38%) and Southern California (~48%). This suggests that MERIS water vapour products show potential for correcting ASAR interferometric measurements in certain regions

Simulasi Perubahan Densitas Muatan Adsorpsi Atom Hidrogen-grafena dengan Teori Fungsi Kerapatan

Peristiwa adsorpsi atom Hidrogen pada Grafena menyebabkan terjadinya Perubahan struktur Grafena. Perubahan ini mempengaruhi keadaan densitas muatan Grafena. Pada simulasi ini posisi atom Hidrogen pada permukaan lembaran Grafena divariasikan, yaitu pada posisi tepat di atas atom Karbon (Top), posisi di tengah antara dua atom Karbon (Bridge), dan posisi pusat struktur heksagonal (Hollow). Simulasi dilakukan dengan metode Teori Fungsi Kerapatan dengan model Grafena ukuran 2x2. Hasil yang diperoleh menunjukkan adsorpsi atom Hidrogen memilih posisi Top sebagai yang paling stabil dibandingkan dengan posisi Bridge dan Hollow. Hasil dari posisi Top menunjukkan elektron dari atom Hidrogen digunakan mengikat Grafena dengan energi ikat sebesar -1.7 eV. Perubahan densitas muatan menunjukkan terjadinya perpindahan elektron menuju Grafena disertai transformasi isosurface yang unik untuk setiap posisi atom Hidrogen dengan Perubahan terbesar terjadi pada posisi Top.  Kata kunci: Densitas muatan, Grafena, Adsorpsi, Teori Fungsi Kerapatan &nbsp

Solar Panel with Embedded Electronics

Currently, inverters are needed to utilize solar panels for applications that require AC power. Unfortunately, these inverters are very costly and decrease power efficiency. In this work, two alternatives to using inverters are explored. The first method combines a buck converter with a buck-boost converter to create a sine output. The second method uses switches to change the connections of the solar cells, producing a stepped AC output. Both methods involve embedding the solar cells along with the additional electronics into a solar panel, thus eliminating the need for a separate inverter. Simulations were performed using SIMPLIS, and both methods were compared with a focus on feasibility and cost. Results of the simulation demonstrated that the DC-DC converter method performs better than the multiple switch method. More specifically, the quality of the sinusoidal output voltage from the DC-DC converter method is better than the stepped sine wave produced by the multiple switches. Furthermore, the use of many switches to produce a sine wave like output makes the multiple switch method not practical due to the complexity of circuit as well as cost. Therefore, through these comparisons, we recommend that future projects should focus on implementing prototypes for the DC-DC converter method using buck buck-boost converter

Reviving a national strategy roadmap for organ and tissue donation in South Africa

In September 2019, a two-day workshop ahead of the Southern African Transplantation Society congress brought together South African champions for organ donation and leaders from the International Society of Organ Donation and Procurement (ISODP) at a high-level workshop focused on creating a national strategy roadmap to improve organ donation in South Africa. The full report is available via the supplementary materials on the African Journal of Nephrology website