Dynamical Measurements of the Young Upper Scorpius Triple NTTS 155808-2219

The young, low-mass, triple system NTTS 155808-2219 (ScoPMS 20) was previously identified as a ~17-day period single-lined spectroscopic binary with a tertiary component at 0.21 arcseconds. Using high-resolution infrared spectra, acquired with NIRSPEC on Keck II, both with and without adaptive optics, we measured radial velocities of all three components. Reanalysis of the single-lined visible light observations, made from 1987 to 1993, also yielded radial velocity detections of the three stars. Combining visible light and infrared data to compute the orbital solution produces orbital parameters consistent with the single-lined solution and a mass ratio of q = 0.78 +/- 0.01 for the SB. We discuss the consistency between our results and previously published data on this system, our radial-velocity analysis with both observed and synthetic templates, and the possibility that this system is eclipsing, providing a potential method for the determination of the stars' absolute masses. Over the ~20 year baseline of our observations, we have measured the acceleration of the SB's center-of-mass in its orbit with the tertiary. Long-term, adaptive optics imaging of the tertiary will eventually yield dynamical data useful for component mass estimates.Comment: 6 Tables, 8 Figures, updated to match published tex

Paving the way to e-services: Innovation through online games

The transformative power of organizational and service innovations on value or supply chains has been the object of several studies. The question identified in this paper is how disruptive trends in the videogames world can have spill-over effects in the broader realm of e-services. Section 1 opens with a brief review of literature. Section 2 proposes a description of the on-line games industrial ecosystem, the characteristics of the production process and the value chain in the online video games industry. The main techno-economic models for the production and distribution of online games are described in a third section with an emphasis on service creation, and illustrated by some case studies. The last part highlights the trend of innovative paths towards an economy of e-Services which are driven by the evolution of online games in a converged environment. --Online value creation,virtual world,virtual good,value chain,digital content convergence,new business models,services

Genotype by environment interactions of industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) varieties under tropical conditions

Christmas Island, Australia, is a remote tropical island that relies predominantly on phosphate mining income. Given that mining operations will decline during the next decade, there is an urgent need to explore alternative industries to maintain local employment. This need could be met through activities such as a transition from mining to the production of high-value crops established in post-mined quarries. However, agriculture post-mining presents a series of challenges to growing crops, such as the lack of appropriate nutrients and organic matter, and the potential for soil compaction and the presence of heavy metals. Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) grows well in contaminated substrates, making it an ideal candidate for evaluation in the transition from mining to agriculture on Christmas Island. Hemp is a crop gaining increasing attention due to its wide range of commercial products and the relaxing of legal restrictions associated with its secondary metabolites. Preliminary experiments with hemp on Christmas Island identified a range of challenges to plant growth, such as the early onset of flowering, stunted growth, nutrient deficiency symptoms, low yield, and fluctuations in cannabinoid concentrations. Although some research has been carried out on hemp globally, there is limited information on optimal conditions for flowering, growth and nutrition, and cannabinoid production under tropical/subtropical environmental conditions. The current study examined a range of hemp varieties in terms of time to flowering, growth, biomass and seed yields, as well as cannabinoid production, in response to a series of abiotic stressors present under the tropical conditions of Christmas Island in postphosphate mined soil. Before undertaking these experiments, an improved method for extraction and detection of cannabinoids was developed. Following this, to investigate the challenges associated with growing hemp on Christmas Island, selected tropical/subtropical varieties (ECO-GH15, ECO-MC16 and ECO-YP16), bred by Ecofibre Limited, and the temperate hemp variety (Morphet Late) were evaluated under different daylengths, temperatures, nutrition and heavy metal substrate concentrations, in controlled growth rooms, to determine physiological, cannabinoids and growth responses. The combination of daylength and temperature affected time to flowering, and consequently, final biomass. Under short daylength (11.5 h and 12.5 h), temperature was shown to be the main driver for time to flowering, depending on genotype. Cannabinoid concentrations were affected by one extra hour of daylength, and varieties responded differently. These experiments revealed the responses of diverse ecotypes and the importance of environment by genotype interactions. Soil nutrient content impacted time to flowering, photosynthesis, leaf gas exchange and plant growth, resulting in significant differences in biomass, seed and cannabinoid production. The addition of nitrogen was associated with higher above ground biomass. Plants not receiving nitrogen had greatly diminished development and growth. Phosphate deficiency delayed time to flowering and flower development. Increasing phosphate concentrations and slow-release fertiliser application increased net photosynthesis under high photosynthetically active radiation (1800 μmol m-2s-1). Potassium deficiency resulted in increased stomatal conductance and gas exchange, possibly due to impaired stomatal function. The investigation of potential cadmium uptake confirmed that hemp could grow in soils containing cadmium and that the plants limit its translocation to leaves and seeds with increasing cadmium concentration in the soil. Overall, this work demonstrates the importance of genotype by environment studies to identify appropriate ecotypes and optimal plant nutrition to achieve consistent production from hemp in tropical/subtropical conditions. The results of this study contribute to our understanding of hemp production in terms of time to flowering, cannabinoid production, and physiology while providing a potential economic opportunity for Christmas Island. These findings could also inform other remote communities at similar latitudes with post-mining soils regarding the requirements for growing hemp as a high-value crop. Remote communities could take advantage of multipurpose applications of hemp as a viable option for high-value products. Knowledge of hemp cannabinoid production as affected by the environment will be essential, globally, to tailor cannabinoids for particular needs

Streamlining Microdata for the Analysis of ICT, Innovation and Performance

This report portrays the outcomes of the workshop Bridging microeconomic data sources for the analysis of ICT, innovation and performance organised by IPTS on the state of art in international micro-founded analyses on Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), R&D, innovation, and economic performance. Micro-level statistics allow to elicit the internal variability of productive systems. For this reason, they can be extremely useful for understanding industry and macro dynamics, as well as for policy design and monitoring. Nonetheless, large-scale application of these statistics is still limited for different reasons, mostly related to the availability of information. Against this background, the workshop aimed to provide a broad overview of completed and ongoing analyses at National, European and OECD levels, and also to share experiences and discuss proposals to address current issues and fully deploy the potential of micro-data. The studies presented covered the whole techno-economic paradigm related to ICTs, innovation and performance, including: factors determining the intensity and sophistication of ICT usage; its relationships with patterns of innovation and performance at firm and macroeconomic levels; the determinants of the EU-US gap in research and knowledge intensive activities; the role of entrepreneurship, and the capability of firms to grow. To this end, the studies used a number of sources in different combinations. Methodological issues addressed in the presentations and debate included: problems encountered when trying to enhance the potential of bridging micro-sources and possible solutions, interactions with macro data, complementary and non-official statistical sources; measurement of ICT-related activities and R&D across the economy, and the reconciliation of company information to BERD (business expenditure in R&D) statistics; the building of composite indicators and their effectiveness, etc. The report summarises experiences and views gathered and shared on these topics.JRC.DDG.J.4-Information Societ

The Global R&D Network. A network analysis of international R&D centres

A firm's decision to establish an R&D centre in a specific location creates externalities affecting other firms and, thus, a random distribution of location choices is unlikely. Expecting that the global distribution of R&D centres fulfils the criteria of a complex network, we apply social network analysis to study the locations of international R&D centres and the relationships between the countries owning and hosting them. We analyse the characteristics of the global R&D network and identify its core members. Further, we include network indices in an empirical analysis of the R&D internationalisation determinants. We find that a country's position in the network, which does not necessarily coincide with its geographical or cultural proximity to other countries, has a significant impact on the formation and intensity of R&D linkages between countries. We provide policy implications addressing the challenges emerging from the increasing internationalisation and network of R&D.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

European ICT poles of excellence: The geography of European ICT activity and its policy implications

The European Commission is trying to increase the EU's competitiveness by building on its assets, particularly its many ICT industrial clusters. The Commission is seeking to strengthen the role of European ICT poles of excellence (EIPEs). But where are EIPEs and what are their characteristics? This paper reports the results of a project that casts more light on the geography of European ICT activity and indicates the key ICT locations in Europe. The project results show that excellence is scarce and is built on solid foundations in science and technology and industrial activity. We discuss the challenges to the EU's ambition to nurture five additional EIPEs within the next few years and present policies which could strengthen the position of existing EIPEs and improve the performance of potential candidates so that they play a stronger role in European ICT activity

A framework for assessing innovation collaboration partners and its application to BRICs

We develop a framework for assessing innovation collaboration partners. Based on the studies explaining the internationalisation of inventive activity, we identify four elements relevant as drivers of innovation collaboration. These elements include inventive capacity, technological specialization patterns, openness to international innovation collaboration and economic potential of technology. In order to make the framework operational, we propose a set of patent-based indicators that capture the relevant elements. This way the proposed framework serves as a tool to both assess the potential of inventive collaboration and to anticipate benefits of such collaboration. In a second step, we apply the framework to analyse the attractiveness of BRIC countries as potential partners for innovation collaboration. Our analysis shows that BRICs do not only differ in terms of inventive performance, but also in terms of the openness to international collaboration or the economic potential of technology developed by these countries.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Mapping the European ICT Poles of Excellence: The Atlas of ICT Activity in Europe

The EIPE Atlas presents the results of the empirical mapping of ICT activity in Europe and the ranking of the top European NUTS 3 regions based on their performance in EIPE Composite Indicator (EIPE CI), together with the ranks for the individual 42 indicators which contributed into the building of the EIPE composite indicators. The report offers a snapshot of the performance of regions that are identified as the main locations of ICT activity in Europe. It is meant to provide a comprehensive picture of how ICT activity is distributed across Europe and where are its main locations. This information is expected to give a better overview of the European ICT landscape. activity and actors in each location and to reveal their strengths and weaknesses.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Internationalisation of ICT R&D in Asia vis a vis the world regions

We analyse the internationalisation of ICT R&D in Asia and compare it with the other world regions. Despite the strong linkages between Japan, the US and the EU, Asia seems to be very attractive as a location for R&D activities. It is also striking how the role of Japan as a partner of other Asian countries decreased mainly in favour of the US. At the aggregate level, there are strong differences in R&D internationalisation across regions. This might indicate that each region follows a different R&D internationalisation path. Alternatively, it might also be a sign of unequal capabilities of "going global". In this respect, the US offers an interesting example of a region which benefit from the process of internationalisation of inventive activity not only through building research collaborations with foreign inventors, but also through successfully capturing innovations developed by foreign researchers.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

International Protection of ICT Intellectual Property and Internationalization of ICT R&D

This report looks at foreign ICT patent filings and the dynamics of ICT R&D internationalisation. The number of foreign ICT patent applications is increasing. This process is, however, restricted to a few countries. Applicants from Japan, the US and South Korea file the most foreign patent applications. A very high level of concentration can also be observed for the destination of foreign patent filings. The main destinations of international ICT patent filings are the USPTO, EPO and the Chinese Patent Office. Although Europe represents an important source of innovation and an attractive technology market, European technology owners are relatively inactive in protecting their IP in foreign markets. Considering ICT R&D internationalisation, its level is also increasing. In this context, the emerging roles of Asian countries, such as South Korea, China and India, are of particular interest. Today, Asia is the biggest partner of the US in technological collaboration. In contrast, although European inventors are very attractive as a technology development partners for foreign partners, they are less successful in sourcing technology from abroad to complement and combine with their own domestic resources.JRC.J.3-Information Societ