University–industry linkages and academic engagements: individual behaviours and firms’ barriers. Introduction to the special section

The article introduces the special section on “University–industry linkages and academic engagements: Individual behaviours and firms’ barriers”. We first revisit the latest developments of the literature and policy interest on university–industry research. We then build upon the extant literature and unpack the concept of academic engagement by further exploring the heterogeneity of UI linkages along a set of dimensions and actors involved. These are: (1) Incentives and behaviours of individual academic entrepreneurs; (2) Firms’ barriers to cooperation with public research institutions; (3) Individual behaviours, incentives and organizational bottlenecks in late developing countries. We summarize the individual contributions along these dimensions. There are overlooked individual characteristics that affect the degree of engagement of academics and scholars in cooperating with other organizations, of which gender and the non-academic background of individuals are most crucial. The notion of academic engagement should be enlarged to aspects that go beyond the commercialization or patenting of innovation, but embrace social and economic impact more at large. From the perspective of the firm, barriers to innovation might exert an effect on the likelihood to cooperate with universities and public research institutes, most especially to cope with lack of finance or access to frontier knowledge. We finally propose a research agenda that addresses the challenges ahead

The MMSE should not be the sole indicator of fitness to drive in mild Alzheimer's dementia

Since Alzheimer’s disease may affect driving performance, patients with Alzheimer’s disease are assessed on fitness to drive. On-road driving assessments are widely used, and attempts have also been made to develop strategies to assess fitness to drive in a clinical setting. Preferably, a first indication of fitness to drive is obtained quickly after diagnosis using a single test such as the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). The aim of this study is to investigate whether the MMSE can be used to predict whether patients with Alzheimer’s disease will pass or fail an on-road driving assessment. Patients with Alzheimer’s disease (n = 81) participated in a comprehensive fitness-to-drive assessment which included the MMSE as well as an on-road driving assessment [PLoS One 11(2):e0149566, 2016]. MMSE cutoffs were applied as suggested by Versijpt and colleagues [Acta Neurol Belg 117(4):811–819, 2017]. All patients with Alzheimer’s disease who scored below the lower cutoff (MMSE ≤ 19) failed the on-road driving assessment. However, a third of the patients with Alzheimer’s disease who scored above the upper cutoff (MMSE ≥ 25) failed the on-road driving assessment as well. We conclude that the MMSE alone has insufficient predictive value to correctly identify fitness to drive in patients with very mild-to-mild Alzheimer’s disease implicating the need for comprehensive assessments to determine fitness to drive in a clinical setting

When is the Best Time to Sample Aquatic Macroinvertebrates in Ponds for Biodiversity Assessment?

Ponds are sites of high biodiversity and conservation value, yet there is little or no statutory monitoring of them across most of Europe. There are clear and standardized protocols for sampling aquatic macroinvertebrate communities in ponds but the most suitable time(s) to undertake the survey(s) remains poorly specified. This paper examined the aquatic macroinvertebrate communities from 95 ponds within different landuse types over three seasons (spring, summer and autumn) to determine the most appropriate time to undertake sampling to characterise biodiversity. The combined samples from all three seasons provided the most comprehensive record of the aquatic macroinvertebrate taxa recorded within ponds (alpha and gamma diversity). Samples collected during the autumn survey yielded significantly greater macroinvertebrate richness (76% of the total diversity) than either spring or summer surveys. Macroinvertebrate diversity was greatest during autumn in meadow and agricultural ponds but taxon richness among forest and urban ponds did not differ significantly temporally. The autumn survey provided the highest measures of richness for Coleoptera, Hemiptera and Odonata. However, richness of the aquatic insect order Trichoptera was highest in spring and lowest in autumn. The results illustrate that multiple surveys, covering more than one season, provide the most comprehensive representation of macroinvertebrate biodiversity. When sampling can only be undertaken on one occasion, the most appropriate time to undertake surveys to characterise the macroinvertebrate community biodiversity is during the autumn; although this may need to be modified if other floral and faunal groups need to be incorporated in to the sampling programme

Proximity Dimensions and Scientific Collaboration among Academic Institutions in Europe: The Closer, the Better?

The main objective of this paper is to examine the effect of various proximity dimensions (geographical, cognitive, institutional, organizational, social and economic) on academic scientific collaborations (SC). The data to capture SC consists of a set of co-authored articles published between 2006 and 2010 by universities located in EU-15, indexed by the Science Citation Index (SCI Expanded) of the ISI Web of Science database. We link this data to institution-level information provided by the EUMIDA dataset. Our final sample consists of 240,495 co-authored articles from 690 European universities that featured in both datasets. Additionally, we also retrieved data on regional R&D funding from Eurostat. Based on the gravital equation, we estimate several econometrics models using aggregated data from all disciplines as well as separated data for Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Life Sciences and Physics & Astronomy. Our results provide evidence on the substantial role of geographical, cognitive, institutional, social and economic distance in shaping scientific collaboration, while the effect of organizational proximity seems to be weaker. Some differences on the relevance of these factors arise at discipline level

Incidence and costs of achalasia in The Netherlands

Recent reports show increasing incidence of achalasia in some populations. The aim of this study was to estimate incidence, prevalence, and healthcare costs of achalasia in a large cohort in The Netherlands. Data were obtained from the largest Dutch healthcare insurance company (±4.4 million insured). Adult achalasia patients were identified between 2006 and 2014 when having an achalasia diagnosis code registered. A total of 907 achalasia patients were identified and included in our database, along with 9068 control patients (non-achalasia patients), matched by age and gender. The mean incidence over the 9-year period was 2.2 per 100 000 persons and the mean prevalence was 15.3 per 100 000 persons. Mean age of achalasia patients was 54 (range 18-98) years. Male to female ratio was 1:1. Socio-economic status distribution was similar in achalasia patients and controls. Prior to the diagnosis, 74% of achalasia patients received proton pump inhibitors and 26% received anti-emetic medication. The first year after diagnosis median total direct medical costs of achalasia patients were €2283 (IQR 969-3044) per year. Patients above the 90th percentile of €4717 were significantly older than other patients below the 90th percentile (mean age 63 vs 57); P = .005. In this large study that used a database comprising about 25% of all inhabitants of The Netherlands, it is confirmed that achalasia affects individuals of both genders and all ages. The costs associated with diagnosis and treatment of new cases of achalasia increase with increasing ag