Informational Complexity and the Flow of Knowledge across social boundaries

Scholars from a variety of backgrounds – economists, sociologists, strategists, and students of technology management – have sought a better understanding of why some knowledge disperses widely while other knowledge does not. In this quest, some researchers have focused on the characteristics of the knowledge itself (e.g., Polanyi, 1966; Reed and DeFillippi, 1990; Zander and Kogut, 1995) while others have emphasized the social networks that constrain and enable the flow of knowledge (e.g., Coleman et al., 1957; Davis and Greve, 1997). This chapter examines the interplay between these two factors. Specifically, we consider how the complexity of knowledge and the density of social relations jointly influence the movement of knowledge. Imagine a social network composed of patches of dense connections with sparse interstices between them. The dense patches might reflect firms, for instance, or geographic regions or technical communities. When does knowledge diffuse within these dense patches circumscribed by social boundaries but not beyond them? Synthesizing social network theory with a view of knowledge transfer as a search process, we argue that knowledge inequality across social boundaries should reach its peak when the underlying knowledge is of moderate complexity. To test this hypothesis, we analyze patent data and compare citation rates across three types of social boundaries: within versus outside the firm, geographically near to versus far from the inventor, and internal versus external to the technological class. In all three cases, the disparity in knowledge diffusion across these borders is greatest for knowledge of an intermediate level of complexity.evolutionary economics, informational complexity, knowledge flow, social boundaries

A nonlinear perturbation theory for estimation and control of time discrete stochastic systems

Nonlinear perturbation theory for optimal estimation and control of time-discrete, stochastic, dynamic systems when measurement data is nois

Farm Feed Processing.

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Storing Flaxseed in Farm-type Bins in South Texas.

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Secondary and postsecondary vocational education curriculum articulation as perceived by community college and high school administrators

The transition of the vocational student from the secondary school to the community college may result in unnecessary duplication of educational resources and curriculum, and can cause the student to waste time, effort, and lose motivation (Whitlock, 1978). Curriculum articulation is a significant approach to solving these problems (Hull & Parnell, 1991). The purpose of the study was two-fold: (a) to investigate the perceptions of community college and high school administrators regarding ideal and actual vocational articulation practices, and (b) to investigate the differences of perceptions to determine if differences were a function of administrative position. The High School-Community College Vocational Education Articulation Perception Inventory was utilized to gather data. A total of 402 Iowa community college and high school administrators were selected to participate in the study. The response rate was 73.1%. The data were analyzed in three ways. A 2 x 5 (articulation x administrative category) Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures on articulation was conducted on each articulation dimension (information/ communication/interaction). Significance was tested at the.05 level. Post hoc tests were used to determine the means between which significant differences existed. Data were summarized using descriptive statistics. Narrative responses were analyzed by using the constant comparative method of qualitative analysis. Significant differences were detected in the following areas: (a) between actual and ideal articulation in all dimensions, (b) among administrators on actual articulation in the information dimension, and (c) among administrators on articulation in the communication dimension. A majority of administrators, in all categories, viewed vocational articulation as being Extremely Important or Very Important. While the majority of presidents and top level administrators viewed the process as working Very Well or Well, a large percentage of middle level administrators, superintendents, and principals believed that the articulation process was working Fair, Not Well, or Very Slowly. The findings of the study suggest that administrators support what is taking place in articulation efforts, but believe additional efforts need to transpire. Administrators in specific administrative categories should be exposed to inservice activities enabling them to acquire additional skills to be more effective articulation leaders

Toxicity of mycotoxins for the rat pulmonary macrophage in vitro.

The presence of mycotoxins in grains is well documented. Workers in grain handling occupations are commonly exposed to grain dust aerosols. Work in our laboratory has shown that T-2 toxin is highly toxic to rat alveolar macrophages in vitro, causing loss of viability, release of radiolabeled chromium, inhibition of macromolecular synthesis, inhibition of phagocytosis, and inhibition of macrophage activation. Similarly, patulin caused a significant release of radiolabeled chromium, decrease in ATP levels, significant inhibition of protein and RNA synthesis, and inhibition of phagocytosis. The data show that both T-2 toxin and patulin are highly toxic to rat alveolar macrophages in vitro. The data further suggest that the presence of these mycotoxins in airborne respirable dust might present a hazard to exposed workers