The Impact of Public Funds on Private R&D Investment: New Evidence from a Firm Level Innovation Study

This paper investigates the effectiveness of a public innovation policy aimed at stimulating private R&D investment. The research will examine whether public funding increases the total spending on research or merely displaces funding from private sources. The empirical analysis is based on the Community Innovation Surveydata merged with register data. It is an evaluation of whether firms receiving public funds have on average a higher R&D intensity compared to those not receiving any such support. In order to account for possible selectivity bias, and to improve comparability of firms, two different versions of a semi-parametric matching approach are employed. The two matching estimators result in somewhat different results. The Nearest Neighbour estimator is preferred to the Kernel estimator. The results support the hypothesis suggesting that there are additive effects of public R&D financing on private research expenditures, but the only beneficiaries are small firms.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Reward prediction error and declarative memory

Learning based on reward prediction error (RPE) was originally proposed in the context of nondeclarative memory. We postulate that RPE may support declarative memory as well. Indeed, recent years have witnessed a number of independent empirical studies reporting effects of RPE on declarative memory. We provide a brief overview of these studies, identify emerging patterns, and discuss open issues such as the role of signed versus unsigned RPEs in declarative learning

Spontaneous eyeblinks during breaking continuous flash suppression are associated with increased detection times

An eyeblink has a clear effect on low-level information processing because it temporarily occludes all visual information. Recent evidence suggests that eyeblinks can also modulate higher level processes (e.g. attentional resources), and vice versa. Despite these putative effects on different levels of information processing, eyeblinks are typically neglected in vision and in consciousness research. The main aim of this study was to investigate the timing and the effect of eyeblinks in an increasingly popular paradigm in consciousness research, namely breaking continuous flash suppression (b-CFS). Results show that participants generally refrain from blinking during a trial, that is, when they need to detect a suppressed stimulus. However, when they do blink during a trial, we observed a sharp increase in suppression time. This suggests that one needs to control for blinking when comparing detection times between conditions that could elicit phasic changes in blinking.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Investigations into the influence of the acid-base-status on the incidence of claw diseases of dairy cows

Titelblatt Inhaltsverzeichnis 1.Einleitung 2.Literaturübersicht 3.Material und Methoden 4.Ergebnisse 5.Diskussion 6.Schlussfolgerungen 7.Zusammenfassung 8.Summary 9.Literatuverzeichnis Danksagung, LebenslaufIm Rahmen einer Verlaufsuntersuchung wurden ein Jahr lang acht verschiedene Milchkuhherden beobachtet. Betreffende Betriebe wurden in jeweils ca. vierwöchigem Abstand besucht, wobei als Probanden lahme (Grad III und höher), trockenstehende (ab vier Wochen a.p.) sowie frischgekalbte (bis vier Wochen p.p.) Kühe ausgewählt wurden. Von sämtlichen Probanden wurden Pansensaft-, Harn- und Blutproben genommen sowie betreffende Milchdaten betrachtet. Die Proben wurden auf ihren Säurestatus bzw. auf damit in Verbindung stehende Parameter untersucht, um eine akute bzw. chronisch-latente Pansenazidose als Ursache der Klauenproblematik nachzuweisen. Zusätzlich wurden weitere Stoffwechselparameter, Elektrolyte, Mineralstoffe und das Vitamin B12 berücksichtigt. Zudem wurden die Regelmäßigkeit der Klauenpflege, die Handhabung von Pufferzugaben zur Futterration, die Anzahl bereits geleisteter Laktationen der einzelnen Probanden, die Tage ante bzw. post partum zum Zeitpunkt der Probenentnahme und die Abgangsdaten der im Verlauf der zwölf Monate lahmgehenden Tiere über den Zeitraum der Probenentnahme hinaus festgehalten. Die Lahmheitsinzidenz lag bei 36,5%. Die Klauensohlengeschwüre dominierten mit einem Prozentsatz von 46,9, gefolgt vom Klauenabszess (26,5%) und der Klauenrehe (12,2%). Kühe mit einmal pro Jahr gepflegten Klauen wiesen eine nur geringfügig niedere Lahmheitsinzidenz auf als nicht routinemäßig klauengepflegte Tiere. In den acht untersuchten Betrieben konnte keine Korrelation zwischen der eventuellen Einflussgrösse �Pufferzugabe zum Futter' und einer im weiteren Verlauf der Laktation auftretenden Lahmheit festgestellt werden. Die Lahmheitsinzidenz korrelierte signifikant mit steigendem Alter der Milchkühe. Mehr als 40% der lahmen Kühe verließen die Herde innerhalb der ersten zwölf Monate nach Feststellung der Lahmheit, über 20% bereits innerhalb der ersten sechs Monate. Bezüglich der Pansensaft-pH-Werte ist weder bei den trockenstehenden noch bei den frischgekalbten und im weiteren Verlauf lahmen Kühen eine statistische Auffälligkeit zu verzeichnen gewesen. Ebenso verhielt es sich für die Kühe, die speziell ein Klauensohlengeschwür entwickelten. Nach Auswertung der Harnparameter der trockenstehenden Kühe in Verbindung mit einer später auftretenden Lahmheit ergaben sich keine Signifikanzen. Die Milchparameter verblieben statistisch unauffällig. Bezüglich der blutchemischen Parameter fielen sowohl für die frischgekalbten Kühe, die im weiteren Verlauf der Laktation eine Lahmheit entwickelten, als auch für die Kühe ,die speziell ein Klauensohlengeschwür entwickelten, Signifikanzen im Bereich der ß-Hydroxybuttersäure in Form einer Erhöhung der Werte auf (p=0,007 bzw. p=0,000). Die Faktoren, die für die untersuchten Betriebe offensichtlich eine wichtige Rolle spielen und zu optimieren sind, sind eine routinemäßig professionelle Klauenpflege und eine verbesserte Anpassung des Energiehaushaltes der einzelnen Milchkühe an die peripartale Phase. Außerdem sind die Haltungsbedingungen bezüglich des Kuhkomforts zu überdenken. Dies gilt auch im besonderen Maße für die Nachzucht der Herde.Within the scope of a longitudinal study, eight different dairy cow herds were observed over the course of twelve months. The relevant dairy farms were visited every four weeks. Selected test specimens were lame cows (3rd degree and above), non-lactating (dry) cows (up to four weeks a.p.) and recently calved cows (up to four weeks p.p.). Ruminal fluid, urine, and blood samples were taken from all test specimens and milk data from the most recent milk control examination was collected. The samples were predominantly examined for acidity status and the related parameters in order to establish an acute or chronic latent ruminal acidosis as the cause for the claw problems. In addition, further metabolic parameters, electrolytes, minerals and vitamin B12 were taken into account. Furthermore, claw trimming and the use of buffer additions to the feed, the number of past lactation periods of each test specimen ,the number of days ante or post partum at the time of sampling and the loss data of lame animals during the course of the twelve month-long study were recorded for each herd. The lameness incidence was 36.5 %. In terms of ascertained diagnoses, the sole ulcer dominated with 46.9%, followed by the foot abscess (26.5%) and laminitis (12.2%). The influencing variable "claw trimming" was notable because cows which received treatment once annually had an only somewhat lower incidence than those which did not receive regular claw trimming. No correlation could be made in the eight examined dairy farms between the potential influencing variable "buffer additions" and lameness occurring later during lactation. The lameness incidence correlated significantly with increased age of the dairy cows. More than 40% of the lame cows left the herd within the first twelve months following the determined lameness; more than 20% left within the first six months. With regard to the ruminal fluid pH level, no further statistical distinction was made in the dry cows or in the recently calved cows or in the cows which became lame later. Nor could such a statistical distinction be made with regard to cows which developed a sole ulcer. Upon analysis of the urine parameter of the dry cows in connection with a later occurring lameness, no significances resulted. The milk parameters remained statistically insignificant. With regard to the chemical parameters of the blood, significant increases appeared in the ß-hydroxybutyric acid values for the recently calved cows that developed a lameness later during lactation, as well as for cows that specifically developed a sole ulcer (p=0.007 p=0.000). The factors which obviously play an important roll for the farms examined and could possibly be optimized are routine professional claw trimming and an improved adaptation of the energy needs of each dairy cow to the peripartal phase. In addition, the housing conditions with regard to cow comfort should be reconsidered, in particular for the offspring of the herd

Efficient computation of rank probabilities in posets

As the title of this work indicates, the central theme in this work is the computation of rank probabilities of posets. Since the probability space consists of the set of all linear extensions of a given poset equipped with the uniform probability measure, in first instance we develop algorithms to explore this probability space efficiently. We consider in particular the problem of counting the number of linear extensions and the ability to generate extensions uniformly at random. Algorithms based on the lattice of ideals representation of a poset are developed. Since a weak order extension of a poset can be regarded as an order on the equivalence classes of a partition of the given poset not contradicting the underlying order, and thus as a generalization of the concept of a linear extension, algorithms are developed to count and generate weak order extensions uniformly at random as well. However, in order to reduce the inherent complexity of the problem, the cardinalities of the equivalence classes is fixed a priori. Due to the exponential nature of these algorithms this approach is still not always feasible, forcing one to resort to approximative algorithms if this is the case. It is well known that Markov chain Monte Carlo methods can be used to generate linear extensions uniformly at random, but no such approaches have been used to generate weak order extensions. Therefore, an algorithm that can be used to sample weak order extensions uniformly at random is introduced. A monotone assignment of labels to objects from a poset corresponds to the choice of a weak order extension of the poset. Since the random monotone assignment of such labels is a step in the generation process of random monotone data sets, the ability to generate random weak order extensions clearly is of great importance. The contributions from this part therefore prove useful in e.g. the field of supervised classification, where a need for synthetic random monotone data sets is present. The second part focuses on the ranking of the elements of a partially ordered set. Algorithms for the computation of the (mutual) rank probabilities that avoid having to enumerate all linear extensions are suggested and applied to a real-world data set containing pollution data of several regions in Baden-Württemberg (Germany). With the emergence of several initiatives aimed at protecting the environment like the REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) project of the European Union, the need for objective methods to rank chemicals, regions, etc. on the basis of several criteria still increases. Additionally, an interesting relation between the mutual rank probabilities and the average rank probabilities is proven. The third and last part studies the transitivity properties of the mutual rank probabilities and the closely related linear extension majority cycles or LEM cycles for short. The type of transitivity is translated into the cycle-transitivity framework, which has been tailor-made for characterizing transitivity of reciprocal relations, and is proven to be situated between strong stochastic transitivity and a new type of transitivity called delta*-transitivity. It is shown that the latter type is situated between strong stochastic transitivity and a kind of product transitivity. Furthermore, theoretical upper bounds for the minimum cutting level to avoid LEM cycles are found. Cutting levels for posets on up to 13 elements are obtained experimentally and a theoretic lower bound for the cutting level to avoid LEM cycles of length 4 is computed. The research presented in this work has been published in international peer-reviewed journals and has been presented on international conferences. A Java implementation of several of the algorithms presented in this work, as well as binary files containing all posets on up to 13 elements with LEM cycles, can be downloaded from the website http://www.kermit.ugent.be