Using noun phrases extraction for the improvement of hybrid clustering with text- and citation-based components. The example of “Information Systems Research”

The hybrid clustering approach combining lexical and link-based similarities suffered for a long time from the different properties of the underlying networks. We propose a method based on noun phrase extraction using natural language processing to improve the measurement of the lexical component. Term shingles of different length are created form each of the extracted noun phrases. Hybrid networks are built based on weighted combination of the two types of similarities with seven different weights. We conclude that removing all single term shingles provides the best results at the level of computational feasibility, comparability with bibliographic coupling and also in a community detection application

New approaches for removing the Si-OH layer of biogenic silica before analysing oxygen isotopes - Helium Flow Dehydration (HFD) and Vacuum Bead Melting (VBM) technique

The analysis of oxygen isotopes from diatom silica (&#948;18OSi) in sediment cores has obtained importance for palaeoclimate reconstruction especially where carbonate proxies are either rare or not available. Compared to the widely accepted relation of oxygen isotopes of carbonate origin to climate-relevant parameters, challenges still occur using biogenic silica. These questions arise at sample preparation as well as and the analysis itself, but are especially related to the removal of loosely bound oxygen of the hydrous layer. It is the common view that diatoms consist of an isotopically homogenous inner Si-O-Si layer and a less dense, hydrous layer forming Si-OH bonds, which has to be removed from the sample prior to analysis. Three methods have been accepted so far to perform this step: Controlled Isotopic Exchange (CIE) followed by fluorination, Stepwise Fluorination (SWF) and inductive High-Temperature carbon reduction (iHTR). The former method of vacuum dehydration (VD) proved to be unable to remove all exchangeable oxygen.Here, a new, remotely-operated laser-fluorination based mass spectrometry unit is used for the analysis. The silica is reacted with a CO2 laser in a BrF5 atmosphere and oxygen is then transferred to and analysed in a mass spectrometer (PDZ Europa 20-20). As CIE is both time-consuming and work-intense and SWF is impractical for this setup mainly due to the high pressure increase during dehydration, a new, efficient and fast method should be developed to remove the hydrous layer using the laser-fluorinationprocess.Two approaches were tested to remove the Si-OH layer and the impact on &#948;18OSi was assessed by performing tests on internal standard materials of marine and lacustrine biogenic silica and of quartz. For VBM, a minimum of 1.5 mg of pure sample is melted to a bead with a defocused laser to eliminate the hydrous outer layer and to reduce the surface. After the bead has formed it is transferred into the reaction chamber completely reacted with a focused laser under BrF5 atmosphere and subsequently analysed on-line.The second method, HFD is an improvement of the outdated VD technique. The sample is heated to 1050°C in a He flow transporting away any removed exchangeable oxygen immediately and thus, not allowing it to re-react with the sample. Various tests have been performed considering pre-heating at 200°C, He flow adjustments and the time of the sample exposed to 1050°C.VBM has difficulties to fully remove the hydrous layer, which results in comparatively lower &#948;18O values. The final set-up was not found yet. The HFD generated similar data than SWF in other laboratories with a high reproducibility and accuracy (standard deviation <0.2 ). Best results could be achieved by pre-heating the sample at 200°C and later on expose it for 15 minutes under a Helium counter flow at 1050°C. Experience with both techniques will be discussed and the reliability of the data compared to other methods

'Triad' or 'Tetrad'? On global changes in a dynamic world.

The US-EU race for world leadership in science and technology has become the favourite subject of recent studies. Studies issued by the European Commission reported the increase of the European share in the world's scientific production and announced world leadership of the EU in scientific output at the end of the last century. In order to be able to monitor those types of global changes, the present study is based on the 15-year period 1991-2005. A set of bibliometric and technometric indicators is used to analyse activity and impact patterns in science and technology output. This set comprises publication output indicators such as (1) the share in the world total, (2) subject-based publication profiles, (3) citation-based indicators like journal- and subject-normalised mean citation rates, (4) international co-publications and their impact as well as (5) patent indicators and publication-patent citation links (both directions). The evolution of national bibliometric profiles, 'scientific weight' and science-technology linkage patterns are discussed as well. The authors show, using the mirror of science and technology indicators, that the triad model does no longer hold in the 21st century. China is challenging the leading sciento-economic powers and the time is approaching when this country will represent the world's second largest potential in science and technology. China and other emerging scientific nations like South Korea, Taiwan, Brazil and Turkey are already changing the balance of power as measured by scientific production, as they are at least in part responsible for the relative decline of the former triad.Research; World; Science; Science-and-technology; Technology; Studies; Order; Indicators; Impact; Patterns; International; Patent; Linkage; Model; Power; Time; Country;

Development of an Approach for Analyzing Supply Chain Complexity

Supply chains are faced with a rising complexity of products, structures, and processes. Because of the strong link between a supply chain’s complexity and its efficiency the supply chain complexity management becomes a major challenge of today’s business management. A two dimensional driver concept is introduced and explained to comprehend the major causes of a supply chains’ complexity. To map the effects of the drivers and to understand the different dimensions of complexity, a general complexity model is introduced. A supply chain complexity analysis approach is presented, to evaluate the initial situation and to provide the necessary information for deriving the right actions and strategies for the management of complexity within a supply chain.complexity; supply chain; variety; model

Building bridges to economy : the impact of environmental communication programs in German business

In Germany, several efforts to build "bridges" over the frequently discussed "gap" between ecology and economy had been made both from governmental as well as from non-governmental actors. For more than ten years, the Federal Environmental Ministry (BMU), the Federal Environmental Agency (UBA) and the German Environmental Foundation (DBU) financed a huge number of projects to improve environmental communication infrastructures within federal associations and organisations for offering applicable environmental information and consultation to a great variety of target groups. Some of these projects aim at small and medium-sized enterprises and have been realised in co-operation with federal business associations (e.g. the chambers of commerce). This paper is concerned with the impact of two comprehensive programs in the 90s. The first program of BMU/UBA supported about one hundred communication projects run by different federal associations. The second program of DBU was an immediate measure to build up an environmental consulting infrastructure for communes, enterprises, and employers in the former GDR after unification. These programs have been ex-post evaluated by Saarland University. As a guideline for evaluation, a generalised communication model was developed and will be used in this paper to specify the communication problems between the implementing organisations and their target groups. One task of both evaluation studies was to identify the sustainable impact of these public support programs on communication processes in business and an overview of our findings on this subject will be given here. During the 90s, the international discussion on sustainable development strongly influenced German environmental policy. By comparing those projects with clear-cut targets on sustainable development with the other ones, some indications for the impact of this discussion on environmental communication in business organisations could be found. Additionally this results will be briefly summarised and discussed in this paper. With respect of the new demands addressed to environmental communication by the sustainability debate, some recommendations will be offered to answer the question, what should be done to develop appropriate measures for improving communication performances of federal business organisations in Germany

The accessory bacteriochlorophyll

The primary electron transfer in reaction centers of Rhodobacter sphaeroides is studied by subpicosecond absorption spectroscopy with polarized light in the spectral range of 920-1040 nm. Here the bacteriochlorophyll anion radical has an absorption band while the other pigments of the reaction center have vanishing ground-state absorption. The transient absorption data exhibit a pronounced 0.9-ps kinetic component which shows a strong dichroism. Evaluation of the data yields an angle between the transition moments of the special pair and the species related with the 0.9-ps kinetic component of 26 +/- 8 degrees. This angle compares favorably with the value of 29 degrees expected for the reduced accessory bacteriochlorophyll. Extensive transient absorbance data are fully consistent with a stepwise electron transfer via the accessory bacteriochlorophyll

Sociological theory and evaluation research: an application and its usability for evaluating sustainable development

Als ein Beispiel für die Einbindung der soziologischen Theorie bei der Evaluation präsentiert der Beitrag ein Konzept für ex-post-Evaluationen politischer Programme und Projekte, entwickelt von R. Stockmann in den frühen 1990er Jahren. Die Darstellung dieses Evaluations-Konzeptes konzentriert sich im ersten Schritt auf die theoretischen Grundlagen, die das Lebensverlauf-, Einfluss- und Diffusionsmodell umfassen. Die Hauptfrage lautet in diesem Zusammenhang, inwieweit Evaluations-Konzepte, die auf verschiedenen wissenschaftlichen Perspektiven basieren, einer Evaluierung nachhaltiger Entwicklungsprozesse dienlich sind. Die Beantwortung bedarf einer Bestimmung des Schlüsselbegriffs der Nachhaltigkeit. Hierbei wird in einem zweiten Schritt eine Verbindung zwischen der Mikro-Perspektive und der Beeinflussung der Nachhaltigkeit als Bestandteil des Konzeptes und der Makro-Perspektive der nachhaltigen Entwicklung von Gesellschaften mit ihren globalen Dimensionen hergestellt. In einem dritten Schritt wird abschließend diese Herangehensweise der Evaluation hinsichtlich ihrer Verwendbarkeit bei der Evaluierung nachhaltiger Entwicklung diskutiert. [Referat: ICG2

Brückenexkursion in die Schweiz

Bericht einer Exkursion des Fakultät Bauingenieurwesen der Hochschule Konstanz zu markanten Brückenbauwerken in der Ostschweiz. Vorgestellt werden ca. 14 Brückenbauwerke mit Bildern und wesentlichen Konstruktionsdetails

Measuring the impact of vocational training projects: an evaluation method and its theoretical foundations

Die Qualitätsverbesserung beruflicher Bildung gilt als wichtige und manchmal schwierige Aufgabe. Der Beitrag stellt ein Konzept für ex-post-Evaluationen vor, das sich bisher in Ländern wie Mexiko, Uganda, Ägypten, China und den Philippinen erfolgreich bewährt hat. In einem ersten Schritt werden die theoretischen Grundlagen dargestellt, die drei Modelle umfassen: das Lebensverlauf-, das Einfluss- und das Diffusionsmodell. In einem zweiten Schritt werden die drei methodologischen Herangehensweisen Partizipation, Multimethodik und Vergleich beschrieben sowie Konsequenzen für die Durchführung der Evaluationsforschung dargelegt. In einem dritten Schritt werden abschließend die Auswirkungen der Evaluierung nachhaltiger Effekte des Projektes zur beruflichen Bildung diskutiert, wobei hier zwischen interner und externer Nachhaltigkeit unterschieden wird. [Referat: ICG2