The role of the university entrepreneurial ecosystem in entrepreneurial finance: case studies of UK innovation knowledge centres

How to commercialize university research and create positive socio-economic impact is a fundamental research question that is under explored. Considerable public funds are invested in universities globally to create knowledge and then to explore its viability to exploit commercial value through supporting entrepreneurship. We explore how publicly funded research and commercialization of projects promote university’s science and technology (S&T) initiatives. Qualitative case studies, involving 45 interviews, examine three UK government-funded Innovation Knowledge Centres’ (IKCs) roles in commercializing three different emerging disruptive technologies: cyber security, digital construction and synthetic biology. An improved entrepreneurial finance (“entfin”) ecosystem is the catalyst to promote innovation, through public funds to empower industry and deliver an effective finance escalator. A “WHO” policy analysis framework examines: the “Why” rationale for public investment; “How” process of translation; and “Outcomes”. This identified how Entrepreneurial Finance combined with Intermediaries, Infrastructure, Training and Leadership impacts scientific research commercialization. We reveal several inter connectors that link maturity of projects, their locality and outcome horizons. Universities play an important intermediary role, regionally and globally to connect the wider entfin ecosystems. The conclusions suggest that government needs to improve the policy mix across university ecosystem actors to improve long horizon investment

Mapping the spin-dependent electron reflectivity of Fe and Co ferromagnetic thin films

Spin Polarized Low Energy Electron Microscopy is used as a spin dependent spectroscopic probe to study the spin dependent specular reflection of a polarized electron beam from two different magnetic thin film systems: Fe/W(110) and Co/W(110). The reflectivity and spin-dependent exchange-scattering asymmetry are studied as a function of electron kinetic energy and film thickness, as well as the time dependence. The largest value of the figure of merit for spin polarimetry is observed for a 5 monolayer thick film of Co/W(110) at an electron kinetic energy of 2eV. This value is 2 orders of magnitude higher than previously obtained with state of the art Mini-Mott polarimeter. We discuss implications of our results for the development of an electron-spin-polarimeter using the exchange-interaction at low energy.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Performance of variable step-size dithered signed error CMA for blind equalization

Recently a dithered signed-error constant modulus algorithm (DSE-CMA) has been proposed, associated with fractionally spaced equalization, for the purpose of low complexity implementation of constant modulus algorithm (CMA). DSE-CMA has robustness properties closely resembling those of CMA under certain restrictions. As the CMA is slow in achieving its minimum mean squared error, so is the DSE-CMA. In this work, we apply an adaptive step-size instead of a fixed one and then examine the performance of few variable step-size algorithms that result in faster convergence while preserve the low computational complexity and robustness properties of the DSE-CMA algorithm. We also derive the excess mean-squared error in the case of noisy channel to examine the robustness of the algorithms

Does the cost of energy matter for innovation? The effects of energy prices on SME innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Energy and environment has gained traction within the field of entrepreneurship literature but a comprehensive empirical study that examines the relationship between the cost of energy and small and medium sized enterprises (SME) innovation is an omission. Therefore, this novel study examines the relationship between the cost of energy and SMEs innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by first examining the differential impact of the various generation sources on the price of electric energy. This research has enabled us to investigate and understand the transmission mechanism of increasing/decreasing electricity price on innovation decisions and activities of SMEs in SSA. Using quantitative approach, with the data from the World Bank Enterprise and Innovation Follow-up Surveys, the study utilises a Tobit model to test whether the generation mix (renewable and non-renewable generation sources) increases or decreases electricity prices and examine the impact of the cost of electric energy on SMEs innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa. The findings of this study shows that cost of electricity affect negatively on SMEs innovation decision and activities of SMEs in SSA. The impact of renewables on price of electricity has a larger magnitude relative to that of non-renewables. This finding has implications for policy makers promoting renewable energy without a policy design to tackle the unintended price effect of promoting renewable energy This is the first study to introduce cost of energy into an innovation model and to empirically examine the role of cost of energy for innovation activities of SMEs in SSA. Further, it examines the sources of generation on electricity price in SSA. The study contributes towards the empirical literature and the findings also have implication for policy makers regarding the unintended consequences of promoting the transition to low carbon electricity generation sources on SMEs via the cost of doing business implication

Solving the SME finance puzzle: an examination of demand and supply failure in the UK

Following economic instability after the Global Financial Crisis, the financing of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) growth and productivity has become central to UK government policy for sustainable economic development, evidenced by the establishment of the British Business Bank and Regional Investment Funds. This paper considers demand-side and supply-side failures in the contemporary UK SME finance market. Adopting mixed methods, binary logit regression analysis of the 2015 UK Small Business Survey of 15,502 SMEs is sense-checked using qualitative participatory findings from 6 SME finance support advisors. Findings confirm the importance of SME size, age, management capability and use of appropriate, timely external advice. They support the resource-based view of SME access to finance, contributing to borrower discouragement and under investment, suggesting the need for improved support to upskill entrepreneurs’ financial management and investment readiness and the concept of an ‘holistic entrepreneurial finance ecosystem’ approach to assist UK SME finance

Some results on range labeling

In this article, We have extended to Range labeling for some trees as for Star trees, Spider trees and Banana tres

Missing data in randomized controlled trials testing palliative interventions pose a significant risk of bias and loss of power: a systematic review and meta-analyses

Objectives To assess the risk posed by missing data (MD) to the power and validity of trials evaluating palliative interventions. Study Design and Setting A systematic review of MD in published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of palliative interventions in participants with life-limiting illnesses was conducted, and random-effects meta-analyses and metaregression were performed. CENTRAL, MEDLINE, and EMBASE (2009-2014) were searched with no language restrictions. Results One hundred and eight RCTs representing 15,560 patients were included. The weighted estimate for MD at the primary endpoint was 23.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] 19.3, 27.4). Larger MD proportions were associated with increasing numbers of questions/tests requested (odds ratio [OR] , 1.19; 95% CI 1.05, 1.35) and with longer study duration (OR, 1.09; 95% CI 1.02, 1.17). Meta-analysis found evidence of differential rates of MD between trial arms, which varied in direction (OR, 1.04; 95% CI 0.90, 1.20; I 2 35.9, P = 0.001). Despite randomization, MD in the intervention arms (vs. control) were more likely to be attributed to disease progression unrelated to the intervention (OR, 1.31; 95% CI 1.02, 1.69). This was not the case for MD due to death (OR, 0.92; 95% CI 0.78, 1.08). Conclusion The overall proportion and differential rates and reasons for MD reduce the power and potentially introduce bias to palliative care trials

Polylithiated (OLi2) functionalized graphane as a potential hydrogen storage material

Hydrogen storage capacity, stability, bonding mechanism and the electronic structure of polylithiated molecules (OLi2) functionalized graphane (CH) has been studied by means of first principle density functional theory (DFT). Molecular dynamics (MD) have confirmed the stability, while Bader charge analysis describe the bonding mechanism of OLi2 with CH. The binding energy of OLi2 on CH sheet has been found to be large enough to ensure its uniform distribution without any clustering. It has been found that each OLi2 unit can adsorb up to six H2 molecules resulting into a storage capacity of 12.90 wt% with adsorption energies within the range of practical H2 storage application.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. (submitted