The benefits from publicly funded research

Research, Technological change, Government Policy

A Network Based Theory Of Foreign Market Entry Mode And Post-Entry Performance

Foreign market entry through equity investment has been extensively studied and various theoretical lenses have been used. Most previous research also focuses attention on either the entry mode selection decision or the topic of post-entry performance, but rarely both. We build on existing research by developing a model of foreign market entry and post-entry performance that uses network theory and organizational ecology to provide a fuller explanation of this complex and critical multinational enterprise strategic behaviour. Four pairs of total eight propositions were developed and justified based on extent literature and sound logical reasoning. By focusing on both entry mode choice and the post-entry performance implications of these choices, we cover both sides of the logic of profit as a function of both costs and revenues. Finally, potential managerial implications are discussed at the end

Selection of melody lines for music databases

One major approach to music retrieval is to model music as a sequence of features, after which traditional information retrieval techniques are applied on the sequence. Because of the temporal nature of music and the inexactness of user queries, most effort on music retrieval systems focus on issues such as indexing and approximation match. In contrast, the processing of music before feature extraction, such as the identification of melody track, were often considered easy or done. This may be the case in a controlled environment, such as one for musicology research, where the pieces are carefully analyzed by human beings before being submitted to the database. However, in an environment where large volumes of music is obtained from the Web, manual music analysis is impractical. Since many well-known musical features often pertain to the melody of musical pieces, and users often remember the melody of a song, algorithms that select the melody tracks of a piece are important for Web-based content-based retrieval systems. In this paper, we describe a number of algorithms for automatic melody track selection in a music retrieval context. We will also study the performance of the algorithms by comparing their answers to those judged by human beings.published_or_final_versio

Guarding Embryo Development of Zebrafish by Shell Engineering: A Strategy to Shield Life from Ozone Depletion

Background: The reduced concentration of stratospheric ozone results in an increased flux of biologically damaging midultraviolet radiation (UVB, 280 to 320 nm) reaching earth surfaces. Environmentally relevant levels of UVB negatively impact various natural populations of marine organisms, which is ascribed to suppressed embryonic development by increased radiation. Methodology/Principal Findings: Inspired by strategies in the living systems generated by evolution, we induce an extra UVB-adsorbed coat on the chorion (eggshell surrounding embryo) of zebrafish, during the blastula period. Short and long UV exposure experiments show that the artificial mineral-shell reduces the UV radiation effectively and the enclosed embryos become more robust. In contrast, the uncoated embryos cannot survive under the enhanced UVB condition. Conclusions: We suggest that an engineered shell of functional materials onto biological units can be developed as a strategy to shield lives to counteract negative changes of global environment, or to provide extra protection for the living units in biological research