844 research outputs found
Just how difficult can it be counting up R&D funding for emerging technologies (and is tech mining with proxy measures going to be any better?)
Decision makers considering policy or strategy related to the development of emerging technologies expect high quality data on the support for different technological options. A natural starting point would be R&D funding statistics. This paper explores the limitations of such aggregated data in relation to the substance and quantification of funding for emerging technologies.
Using biotechnology as an illustrative case, we test the utility of a novel taxonomy to demonstrate the endemic weaknesses in the availability and quality of data from public and private sources. Using the same taxonomy, we consider the extent to which tech-mining presents an alternative, or potentially complementary, way to determine support for emerging technologies using proxy measures such as patents and scientific publications
What Difference Does Quantity Make? On the Epistemology of Big Data Biology
publication-status: Acceptedtypes: ArticleIs Big Data science a whole new way of doing research? And what difference does data quantity make to knowledge
production strategies and their outputs? I argue that the novelty of Big Data science does not lie in the sheer quantity of
data involved, but rather in (1) the prominence and status acquired by data as commodity and recognised output, both
within and outside of the scientific community and (2) the methods, infrastructures, technologies, skills and knowledge
developed to handle data. These developments generate the impression that data-intensive research is a new mode of
doing science, with its own epistemology and norms. To assess this claim, one needs to consider the ways in which data
are actually disseminated and used to generate knowledge. Accordingly, this article reviews the development of sophisticated
ways to disseminate, integrate and re-use data acquired on model organisms over the last three decades of work
in experimental biology. I focus on online databases as prominent infrastructures set up to organise and interpret such
data and examine the wealth and diversity of expertise, resources and conceptual scaffolding that such databases draw
upon. This illuminates some of the conditions under which Big Data needs to be curated to support processes of
discovery across biological subfields, which in turn highlights the difficulties caused by the lack of adequate curation for
the vast majority of data in the life sciences. In closing, I reflect on the difference that data quantity is making to
contemporary biology, the methodological and epistemic challenges of identifying and analysing data given these developments,
and the opportunities and worries associated with Big Data discourse and methods.Economic and Social
Research CouncilES/F028180/1Leverhulme TrustRPG-2013-153European Unionâs Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013ERC grant
agreement number 335925
Defining appropriateness in coach-athlete sexual relationships: The voice of coaches
The sporting culture, with omnipotent coaches, fierce competition for recognition and funding, and âwin at all costâ ethos, creates an environment conducive to sexual exploitation of athletes. Recent increased public awareness and the development of child protection policies in sport have led to the questioning of previously accepted coach-athlete relationships. This study is an exploratory investigation into male swimming coachesâ perceptions of appropriateness of coach-athlete sexual relationships. Sexual relationships with athletes under the age of 16 were unanimously considered totally inappropriate. With regard to sexual relationships with athletes above the age of consent for heterosexual sex, opinions ranged from âtotally inappropriateâ to âitâs a question of civil liberties.â These results are discussed in relation to how coaches have adapted their own behaviours in the face of public scrutiny but are still reluctant to restrict the rights of their fellow coaches
Molybdenum oxide on Fe2O3 Core-Shell catalysts: Probing the nature of the structural motifs responsible for methanol oxidation catalysis
A series of MoOx-modified Fe2O3 catalysts have been prepared in an attempt to make coreâshell oxidic materials of the type MoOx/Fe2O3. It is conclusively shown that for three monolayers of Mo dosed, the Mo stays in the surface region, even after annealing to high temperature. It is only when the material is annealed above 400 °C that it reacts with the iron oxide. We show by a combination of methods, and especially by XAFS, that at temperatures above 400 °C, most of the Mo converts to Fe2(MoO4)3, with Mo in a tetrahedral structure, whereas below that temperature, nanocrystalline MoO3 is present in the sample; however, the active catalysts have an octahedral MoOx layer at the surface even after calcination to 600 °C. This surface layer appears to be present at all temperatures between 300 and 600 °C, and it is the nanoparticles of MoO3 that are present at the lower temperature that react to form ferric molybdate, which underlies this surface layer. It is the MoOx layer on the Fe2(MoO4)3 underlayer that makes the surface active and selective for formaldehyde synthesis, whereas the iron oxide surface itself is a combustor. The material is both activated and improved in selectivity due to the dominance of the methoxy species on the Mo-doped material, as opposed to the much more stable formate, which is the main intermediate on Fe2O3
Secret Codes: The Hidden Curriculum of Semantic Web Technologies
There is a long tradition in education of examination of the hidden curriculum, those elements which are implicit or tacit to the formal goals of education. This article draws upon that tradition to open up for investigation the hidden curriculum and assumptions about students and knowledge that are embedded in the coding undertaken to facilitate learning through information technologies, and emerging ‘semantic technologies’ in particular. Drawing upon an empirical study of case-based pedagogy in higher education, we examine the ways in which code becomes an actor in both enabling and constraining knowledge, reasoning, representation and students. The article argues that how this occurs, and to what effect, is largely left unexamined and becomes part of the hidden curriculum of electronically mediated learning that can be more explicitly examined by positioning technologies in general, and code in particular, as actors rather than tools. This points to a significant research agenda in technology enhanced learning
Dynamic correlations in an ordered c(22) lattice gas
We obtain the dynamic correlation function of two-dimensional lattice gas
with nearest-neighbor repulsion in ordered c(22) phase
(antiferromagnetic ordering) under the condition of low concentration of
structural defects. It is shown that displacements of defects of the ordered
state are responsible for the particle number fluctuations in the probe area.
The corresponding set of kinetic equations is derived and solved in linear
approximation on the defect concentration. Three types of strongly correlated
complex jumps are considered and their contribution to fluctuations is
analysed. These are jumps of excess particles, vacancies and flip-flop jumps.
The kinetic approach is more general than the one based on diffusion-like
equations used in our previous papers. Thus, it becomes possible to adequately
describe correlations of fluctuations at small times, where our previous theory
fails to give correct results. Our new analytical results for fluctuations of
particle number in the probe area agree well with those obtained by Monte Carlo
simulations.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure
Decay of isolated surface features driven by the Gibbs-Thomson effect in analytic model and simulation
A theory based on the thermodynamic Gibbs-Thomson relation is presented which
provides the framework for understanding the time evolution of isolated
nanoscale features (i.e., islands and pits) on surfaces. Two limiting cases are
predicted, in which either diffusion or interface transfer is the limiting
process. These cases correspond to similar regimes considered in previous works
addressing the Ostwald ripening of ensembles of features. A third possible
limiting case is noted for the special geometry of "stacked" islands. In these
limiting cases, isolated features are predicted to decay in size with a power
law scaling in time: A is proportional to (t0-t)^n, where A is the area of the
feature, t0 is the time at which the feature disappears, and n=2/3 or 1. The
constant of proportionality is related to parameters describing both the
kinetic and equilibrium properties of the surface. A continuous time Monte
Carlo simulation is used to test the application of this theory to generic
surfaces with atomic scale features. A new method is described to obtain
macroscopic kinetic parameters describing interfaces in such simulations.
Simulation and analytic theory are compared directly, using measurements of the
simulation to determine the constants of the analytic theory. Agreement between
the two is very good over a range of surface parameters, suggesting that the
analytic theory properly captures the necessary physics. It is anticipated that
the simulation will be useful in modeling complex surface geometries often seen
in experiments on physical surfaces, for which application of the analytic
model is not straightforward.Comment: RevTeX (with .bbl file), 25 pages, 7 figures from 9 Postscript files
embedded using epsf. Submitted to Phys. Rev. B A few minor changes made on
9/24/9
Corporate governance and financial constraints on strategic turnarounds
The paper extends the Robbins and Pearce (1992) two-stage turnaround response model to include governance factors. In addition to the retrenchment and recovery, the paper proposes the addition of a realignment stage, referring specifically to the re-alignment of expectations of principal and agent groups. The realignment stage imposes a threshold that must be crossed before the retrenchment and hence recovery stage can be entered. Crossing this threshold is problematic to the extent that the interests of governance-stakeholder groups diverge in a crisis situation. The severity of the crisis impacts on the bases of strategy contingent asset valuation leading to the fragmentation of stakeholder interests. In some cases the consequence may be that management are prevented from carrying out turnarounds by governance constraints. The paper uses a case study to illustrate these dynamics, and like the Robbins and Pearce study, it focuses on the textile industry. A longitudinal approach is used to show the impact of the removal of governance constraints. The empirical evidence suggests that such financial constraints become less serious to the extent that there is a functioning market for corporate control. Building on governance research and turnaround literature, the paper also outlines the general case necessary and sufficient conditions for successful turnarounds
Translating and transforming care: people with brain injury and caregivers filling in a disability claim form
This article examines how the Disability Living Allowance claim form, used in the United Kingdom to allocate ÂŁ13 billion of disability benefits, translates and transforms disability and care. Twenty-two people with acquired brain injury and their main informal caregivers (n = 44) were video-recorded filling in the disability claim form. Participants disagreed on 26% of the questions, revealing two types of problems. Translation problems arose as participants struggled to provide categorical responses to ambiguous questions and were unable to report contextual variability in care needs or divergences of perception. Transformation problems arose as participants resisted the way in which the form positioned them, forcing them to conceptualize their relationship in terms of dependency and burden. The disability claim form co-opts claimants to translate care and disability into bureaucratically predefined categories, and it transforms the care relationship that it purports to document
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