Do individual factors matter? A survey of scientists’ patenting in Portuguese public research organisations

This paper addresses scientists’ behaviour regarding the patenting of knowledge produced in universities and other public sector research organisations (PSROs). Recent years have witnessed a rapid growth in patenting and licensing activities by PSROs. We argue that the whole process depends to a certain extent on scientists’ willingness to disclose their inventions. Given this assumption, we conduct research into individual behaviour in order to understand scientists’ views concerning the patenting of their research results. Data from a questionnaire survey of Portuguese researchers from nine PSROs in life sciences and biotechnology is presented and analysed and complemented with in-depth interviews. The results reveal that overall the scientists surveyed show a low propensity to become involved in patenting and licensing activities, despite the fact that the majority had no “ethical” objections to the disclosure of their inventions and the commercial exploitation of these. Perceptions about the impacts of these activities on certain fundamental aspects of knowledge production and dissemination are however divergent. This may account for the low participation levels. Furthermore, most scientists perceived the personal benefits deriving from this type of activity to be low. Similarly, the majority also believed that there are many difficulties associated with the patenting process and that they receive limited support from their organisations, which lack the proper competences and structures to assist with patenting and licensing.     

On aspectualizing component models

Server‐side component models such as Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) add powerful abstractions to the bare ‘business objects’ layer in order to support a clean separation of server‐side application logic from other concerns such as distribution, security, transaction management and persistence. An improved separation of concerns is also the main goal of aspect‐oriented programming (AOP). This paper compares the two approaches and reasons about the possibility of substituting (parts of) component models using AOP mechanisms. We conclude that AOP is a promising approach to eliminate important shortcomings of the container‐based component approach. However, our analysis of concrete aspect‐oriented languages shows that current AOP technology is not yet mature enough to supersede component models. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Semat—Three Year Vision

The purpose of writing this Three Year Vision paper is threefold. Firstly, it briefly recaps the progress Semat has made thus far; secondly, it lays out the future directions for people working actively within the Semat community; thirdly, it provides the background for seeking funding support from agencies, such as the European Community and the like. Funding support is necessary to sustain the ongoing activities of Semat and its growth into a broader community effort, as most people working within Semat are volunteers. As such, the paper may be both too much and too little for the wider supporter base. However, we intend to make our work fully transparent, hence, we publish it widely. We seek feedback and comments from supporters and signatories in order to improve the vision. In this context, other companion papers are being written to better address the specific needs for the practitioners, the industry and the academia.     

A high-level application using belief functions for exchanging and managing uncertain events on the road in vehicular ad hoc networks

This article introduces a high-level system using belief functions for exchanging and managing imperfect information about events on the road in vehicular ad hoc networks. The main purpose of this application is to provide the most reliable information for the driver from multiple messages received informing the driver about events on the roads. This system and some variants are tested using a MATLAB? simulator. An implementation with Android smartphones using a Bluetooth technology to exchange the messages is also introduced.     

Cu2+ Selective Chromogenic Behavior of Calix[4]arene Derivative

This study involves the copper selective chromogenic response of 5, 11, 17, 23-Tetrakis (N-pyrrolidinomethyl)-25, 26, 27, 28-tetrahydroxycalix[4]arene based mannich base (3). Complexation ability of (3) was explored by examining the effect of a series of various metal ions, such as Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Ag⁺, Ba²⁺, Ca²⁺, Mn²⁺, Mg²⁺, Sr²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cd²⁺, Co²⁺, Cu²⁺, Hg²⁺, Pb²⁺, Zn²⁺, Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺, and Al³⁺, by using UV-visible spectroscopy. Ligand (3) exhibited pronounced selectivity toward Cu²⁺ even in the presence of various co-existing ions. The stoichiometric analysis, i.e., Job's plot revealed that (3) form 1:1 complex with Cu²⁺ ion in DMF-H₂O system. The complexation phenomenon was confirmed by FT-IR spectroscopy that favors the selective nature of (3) with Cu²⁺.