A scientific approach to engineering design

Current developments of a scientific approach to design are outlined. It is shown than in order to establish a scientific theory of design, the following aspects need to be studied and covered: the designer, the activity, the object, the context in which engineering design takes place, and the context of use of the resulting technical system. The current state of such theory is presented, together with discussions of related literature. Design science is brought into connection with necessary development of computer aids.     

Writing styles in different scientific disciplines: a data science approach

Scientometrics - We quantified several different elements that reflect writing styles of scientific papers in four related disciplines: physics, astrophysics, mathematics, and computer science....     

International scientific cooperation: The continentalization of science

By transforming science into a vast single market for the exchange of research products, the globalization of scientific activity effects the mechanisms by which countries enter into mutual relations. It is no longer sufficient to conduct research jointly; research must also, and perhaps above all, be conducted within the strategic space of the network. In practice, the network takes the form of a cluster of nations and emerges in response to various determining factors or constraints. This does not, however, result in arbitrary criteria of association with the network: the distance from one country or group of countries able to play a regional or continental governance role, cultural or linguistic affinities, geographic proximity, the recognition of common interests, the existence of political agreements on cooperation are all grounds for linkage or association. In short, the geography of exchanges is changing before our eyes. This study describes as world-science marked by the collectivization of the centre, centrality being defined not by a national monopoly, but by the hard core of a transnational network, stratified on a continental or subcontinental basis.     

The transition from an individual science to a collective one: The case of astronomy

The trend toward collectivization in Astronomy during this century (1901–1996), as measured by the increase in the number of authors per paper, is analyzed. For this purpose, two leading astronomical journals:The Astrophysical Journal andMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society are surveyed. It is found that the average number of authors per paper has jumped from a little more than one in the first half of this century to about three at present. Most of this dramatic increase has taken place during the last 20–25 years. At the same time, the ratio ofcollective papers (three or more authors) to single-authored ones has passed from nearly zero to 3–4 at present. The latter means that collective papers were almost nonexistent until the fifties or sixties to become nowadays 3–4 times more frequent than single-authored ones. The reasons underlying the collectivization of Astronomy (and perhaps of all natural sciences) are analyzed. The growing professionalization of science accompanied by a massive influx of graduate studients into University research institutes, the revolution in communication, the pressure to publish in order to progress in a scientific career, and the growing complexity of knowledge are invoked as causes for the abandonment of the traditional individualism in science to a collective regime.     

A geometric approach to the construction of scientific impact indices

Two broad classes of scientific impact indices are proposed and their properties - both theoretical and practical — are discussed. These new classes were obtained as a geometric generalization of the well-known tools applied in scientometric, like Hirsch’s h-index, Woeginger’s w-index and the Kosmulski’s Maxprod. It is shown how to apply the suggested indices for estimation of the shape of the citation function or the total number of citations of an individual. Additionally, a new efficient and simple O(log n) algorithm for computing the h-index is given.     

The global institutionalization of nanotechnology research: A bibliometric approach to the assessment of science policy

Based on bibliometric methods, this paper describes the global institutionalization of nanotechnology research from the mid-1980s to 2006. Owing to an extremely strong dynamics, the institutionalization of nanotechnology is likely to surpass those of major disciplines in only a few years. A breakdown of the relative institutionalizations strengths by the main geographical regions, countries, research sectors, disciplines, and institutional types provides a very diverse picture over the time period because of different national science policies. The results allow a critical assessment of the different science policies based on the relative institutionalizations strengths as well as the conclusion that the institutionalization process has run out of control of individual governments who once induced the development.     

From individual scientific visibility to collective competencies: The example of an academic department in the social sciences

The article discusses the role of university departments in the social sciences. It studies how to describe the three missions of university departments: education, research and consultancy services for public and private organisations. It also proposes some tools to evaluate to what extent these missions are connected. Until now, evaluation in this domain has focused primarily on research activities and far too few indicators have been developed for the other two missions. Moreover, evaluation is often performed on an individual basis, so that the synergy generated by work collectives is rarely evaluated. The purpose of this article is to propose a method for identifying and describing the competencies of a social science research and teaching department. This method can be used to study the articulation between the department's different activities—research, expertise and teaching. Maps of activity are generated, which can serve as a basis for strategic planning of future trends. The approach is based on an analysis of “traces” (articles, contracts, research reports, postgraduate training modules) of the activity of the different components of the Social Science Department, using lexicographic analysis tools. With keywords, titles, summaries and synopses of lectures, it is possible to draw up “maps” representing the department's main competencies.     

A bibliometric approach to tracking international scientific migration

A bibliometric approach is explored to tracking international scientific migration, based on an analysis of the affiliation countries of authors publishing in peer reviewed journals indexed in Scopus?. The paper introduces a model that relates base concepts in the study of migration to bibliometric constructs, and discusses the potentialities and limitations of a bibliometric approach both with respect to data accuracy and interpretation. Synchronous and asynchronous analyses are presented for 10 rapidly growing countries and 7 scientifically established countries. Rough error rates of the proposed indicators are estimated. It is concluded that the bibliometric approach is promising provided that its outcomes are interpreted with care, based on insight into the limits and potentialities of the approach, and combined with complementary data, obtained, for instance, from researchers’ Curricula Vitae o, survey or questionnaire- based data. Error rates for units of assessment with indicator values based on sufficiently large numbers are estimated to be fairly below 10 %, but can be expected to vary substantially among countries of origin, especially between Asian countries and Western countries.     

The public science base of US biotechnology: A citation-weighted approach

In previous research we examined the science base of US biotechnology utilizing several unique patent and scientific paper databases (McMillan et al., 2000). Our findings highlighted the importance of public science in this industry. In this current research effort, we extend that analysis to include the subsequent citations those biotechnology patents received. Our conclusions are that the reliance on public science is stable when adjusted for forward citations, but the impact of different funding sources does change when citation weights are added. The science policy implications of these findings and future research opportunities are discussed.     

A novel approach to vibratory finishing: Double vibro-polishing

In most conventional vibratory finishing processes, the vibration flow is in the following order: vibratory motor, machine walls, and ultimately the media which impart finishing action to the components. The components are either freely floating or secured to a fixture in the bulk of media flow throughout the process. Commonly used fixtures are of the mechanical type where components are held on the fixture which is either rigidly bolted to the vibratory finishing machine or freely floating in the media. In this paper, a novel polishing method is introduced: double vibro-polishing. The polishing process deploys a vibratory fixture incorporated in a conventional vibratory finishing setup so that dual vibrations are induced on the components. Ti-6Al-4V workpieces are attached to a vibratory fixture which is immersed in a vibratory finishing trough containing plastic media. Two modes are compared to evaluate asperity changes: vibratory fixture in the “silent” mode which is representative of a mechanical fixture, and the “active” mode giving rise to dual vibro-polishing. Average surface roughness (R_a) is measured using a surface profiler every 15?min until 180?min of process time and the results are plotted. The vibratory fixture demonstrates improvement in the process times in terms of reaching the saturation R_a in a shorter period of time. Force sensors are incorporated onto the fixture to examine the reasons behind the faster finishing.     

Representing a scientific field: A bibliometric approach

A new bibliometric method is proposed for representing links between subfields as defined by a classification scheme. The frequency of co-occurrence of articles from different subfields in selected journals is used for measuring the degree of relatedness between these subfields. The results of such quantitative analysis could be compared to the tree topology of the classification network established in a qualitative analysis. The method is applied to describe the internal links within the field of condensed matter physics using the 1984 Physics Abstracts database. A distinction is made between experimental and theoretical links on the basis of treatment codes assigned to journal articles. The links described by cluster analysis are matched against the cross-reference network of the International Classification for Physics.     

A novel approach to hydrogen sensing

A novel sensor for the selective detection of hydrogen in the presence of other reducing gases is presented. The device comprises a commercially available non- or partially-selective semiconductor gas sensor and an air filled centimeter-long capillary tube. The attachment is so that upon exposure, the target gas diffuses in air through the length of the capillary before affecting the sensor. The hydrogen component of the gas mixture diffuses much faster than other components, and is sensed at an earlier stage of the sensor response. The response of a capillary-attached gas sensor (CGS) to a gas mixture containing hydrogen is mathematically analyzed. The results indicate that the hydrogen concentration can readily be extracted from certain mathematical features of the transient response. The fabrication of a prototype CGS and experimental verification of the analytical results are reported. The prototype can measure hydrogen concentration at the presence of other reducing and combustible gases exceeding its concentration by two orders of magnitude.     

A new approach to defining a multidisciplinary field of science: The case of cardiovascular biology

This paper describes a new and objective method for tackling the problem of defining a multidisciplinary research area for bibliometric analysis. The test field was cardiovascular biology. A three stage process was adopted in setting a boundary around this research field:

1. Appropriate sections of a hierarchical subject classification scheme, Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), were developed into a “MeSH filter” through which papers indexed in MEDLINE were screened.
2. A panel of cardiovascular experts reviewed the core set of classification terms, identifying irrelevant and missing areas, facilitating the development of a more sophisticated “filter”.
3. The definition was validated using publication lists from research departments with a known interest in cardiovascular research.

This iterative process resulted in a definition of the field which captured basic and clinical research papers from the international biomedical research community and which was recognisable to experts in the field of cardiovascular research. Importantly, the field boundary also excluded publications which were not relevant to cardiovascular research. The process of involving experts in shaping the field definition also yielded two intangible, but key benefits: (a) it lent credibility to subsequent analyses, the results of which were to be presented to policy-makers in cardiovascular biology, and (b) it served to shape consensus among the cardiovascular experts on the full range of scientific disciplines that are relevant to their field. Analysis of international publishing in cardiovascular research revealed that whilst the UK and US dominate in total numbers of papers, the relative emphasis on cardiovascular research in these countries (as a proportion ofall biomedical publishing) is actually quite low, and declining. Japan and Germany in contrast appear to give greater emphasis to cardiovascular research in their national portfolios of biomedical science, and between 1988–1991 Japan established a marked increase in activity.     

A distributional approach to multinationality measures of international scientific collaboration

In a recent study, de Lange and Glänzel introduced a model for the bibliometric analysis of the extent of multinational co-authorship links. They showed that this model can be considered a generalisation of the "fractionation approach" by Nederhof and Moed. The authors analysed international collaboration links (the Multilateral Collaboration Index) as a function of the share of internationally co-authored papers. The measurement of the deviation of individual countries from (sub-)field peculiarities proved, however, complicated. The intensifying international collaboration and, in several fields, the substantial growth of number of multinational papers (involving three or more countries) in the 90s necessitates a detailed analysis of co-publication distributions, that is, of the distributions of partner countries in a given country"s publication output. The main objective of the study is to elaborate such a measure to be used in addition to the share of international publications and the Multilateral Collaboration Index. In addition, a detailed analysis of national citation impact of domestic, bilateral and multilateral papers in the major science fields is conducted. The model, we develop and the statistical analysis that it allows, support the practical conclusion that the ratio of the number of international links and international papers turns out to be roughly proportional to the ratio of full and fractional publication counts.     

A bibliometric approach to the role of author self-citations in scientific communication

The present paper analyses the role of author self-citations aiming at finding basic regularities of self-citations within the process of documented scientific communication and thus laying the methodological groundwork for a possible critical view at self-citation patterns in empirical studies at any level of aggregation. The study consists of three parts; the first part of the study is concerned with the comparative analysis of the ageing of self-citations and of non-self citations, in the second part the possible interdependence between self-citations and foreign citations is analysed and in the third part the interrelation of the share of self-citations in all citations with other citation-based indicators is studied. The outcomes of this study are two-fold; first, the results characterise author self-citations - at least at the macro level - as an organic part of the citation process obeying rules that can be measured and described with the help of mathematical models. Second, these rules can be used in evaluative micro and meso analyses to identify significant deviations from the reference standards.     

A novel approach to produce Al-alloy foams

The stability of Al foams during processing is crucial to producing uniform Al foams. Once pores form during processing, no matter which conventional methods are used, the pores grow and/or merge into large ones, which could cause Al foams to “collapse”. Therefore, it has attracted great attention of researchers to enhance the stability of Al foams during processing for improved quality of Al foams. A novel approach to produce Al-alloy foams, “Rheofoaming”, is presented in this paper. A twin-screw rheomixer fitted with a gas inlet near the end cap is used in this work. The mechanism of this approach is firstly to increase the viscosity of semisolid slurry of Al alloy by adding sub-micron Al₂O₃ particles and then to mix N₂ gas with the semisolid slurry using a twin-screw rheomixer, which can offer high shear rate and intensive turbulence. The gas pores in the semisolid slurry are stretched and broken into smaller ones in the rheomixer. Al foams are very stable during the processing due to small pore sizes and high viscosity of semisolid slurry. The microstructure of rheofoamed Al foams and the process of this new approach have been described in this paper.