Regional collaborations and indigenous innovation capabilities in China: A multivariate method for the analysis of regional innovation systems

In this study we analyse the emerging patterns of regional collaboration for innovation projects in China, using official government statistics of 30 Chinese regions. We propose the use of Ordinal Multidimensional Scaling and Cluster analysis as a robust method to study regional innovation systems. Our results show that regional collaborations amongst organisations can be categorised by means of eight dimensions: public versus private organisational mindset; public versus private resources; innovation capacity versus available infrastructures; innovation input (allocated resources) versus innovation output; knowledge production versus knowledge dissemination; and collaborative capacity versus collaboration output. Collaborations which are aimed to generate innovation fell into 4 categories, those related to highly specialised public research institutions, public universities, private firms and governmental intervention. By comparing the representative cases of regions in terms of these four innovation actors, we propose policy measures for improving regional innovation collaboration within China

Control of movement EEG correlates of physical effort and reward processing during reinforcement learning

Copyright © 2020 the American Physiological Society. Effort-based decision making is often modeled using subjective value, a function of reward discounted by effort. We asked whether EEG event-related potential (ERP) correlates of reward processing are also modulated by physical effort. Human participants performed a task in which they were required to accurately produce target levels of muscle activation to receive rewards. Quadriceps muscle activation was recorded with electromyography (EMG) during isometric knee extension. On a given trial, the target muscle activation required either low or high effort. The effort was determined probabilistically according to a binary choice, such that the responses were associated with 20% and 80% probability of high effort. This contingency could only be learned through experience, and it reversed periodically. Binary reinforcement feedback depended on accurately producing the target muscle activity. Participants adaptively avoided effort by switching responses more frequently after choices that resulted in hard effort. Feedback after participants’ choices that revealed the resulting effort requirement did not elicit modulation of the feedback-related negativity/reward positivity (FRN/RP). However, the neural response to reinforcement outcome after effort production was increased by preceding physical effort. Source decomposition revealed separable early and late positive deflections contributing to the ERP. The main effect of reward outcome, characteristic of the FRN/RP, loaded onto the earlier component, whereas the reward effort interaction was observed only in the later positivity, which resembled the P300. Thus, retrospective effort modulates reward processing. This may explain paradoxical behavioral findings whereby rewards requiring more effort to obtain can become more powerful reinforcers

Le bien-être animal: un enjeu crucial pour la pisciculture

Alors que cette fin d'année est cruciale pour l'orientation de la pisciculture avec la mise en place d'un programme opérationnel et d'un plan de filière pour les prochaines années, une vingtaine d'associations et une cinquantaine de personnalités plaident pour une meilleure prise en compte du bien-être animal et rappellent les enjeux de la pisciculture dans ce domaine

Open Innovation in SMEs: prospects and challenges

Newly evolved technologies and multi-faceted researches along the setting of entrepreneurship development, philosophy, context and business handling have been transformed from being traditional to innovative. Depending on the diversity and nature of the transformation, innovation has been shifted from closed to open paradigm. Ranging from micro to small or medium to corporate business houses are being immensely benefited by the innovation techniques, especially utilizing information and communication technologies (ICTs). However, the road to innovation, despite being seen or taken as a paradigm shift is not smooth and ready for many, particularly the small and medium enterprises who mainly deal with the clients at the outer peripheries of the social circle. Despite being a major economic contributor in many countries, SMEs suffer from various challenges, of inherited nature, culture and reasons beyond control. This paper synthesizes issues of opportunities and challenges for small and medium enterprises by carrying out a longitudinal study. Furthermore, the paper provides a few research hints for researchers and research institutions