Détente Science? Transformations of Knowledge and Expertise in the 1970s

Scrutinizing the multifaceted relationship between the history of science and the political, economic and cultural transformations of the 1970s, while acknowledging that ‘Cold War [social] science’ has proven to be a fruitful heuristic concept, the paper asks if– in a period decreasing confrontation –there was also a ‘détente [social] science’? First, it presents a short overview of the most significant transformations of the 1970s and sketches if and to what extent developments in the realm of science influenced them or even brought them about. Secondly, the perspective will be turned around. After developing the concept of Cold War Science in greater detail, the paper asks whether the changes of the 1970s influenced the development of the natural and social sciences. In particular, it analyzes their influence on the conceptions of knowledge and expertise that have been described as constitutive elements of Cold War Science. In conclusion, it tries to assess if these changes amount to anything that might be labelled fruitfully as détente science.     

How Do the Electrical Properties of Graphene Change with its Functionalization?

Functionalization of graphene is essential to interface it with other moieties to expand the scope of its electrical/electronic applications. However, chemical functionalization and/or molecular interactions on graphene sensitively modulate its electrical properties. To evaluate and take advantage of the properties of functionalized graphene, it is important to understand how its electrical attributes (such as carrier scattering, carrier concentration, charge polarity, quantum‐capacitance enhanced doping, energy levels, transport mechanisms, and orbital hybridization of energy‐bands) are influenced by a change in carbon's structural conformation, hybridization state, chemical potential, local energy levels, and dopant/interface coupling induced via functionalization or molecular interactions. Here, a detailed and integrated model describes factors influencing these electrical characteristics of functionalized graphene (covalent bonds, adsorption, π–π bonds, and lattice incorporation). The electrical properties are governed via three mechanisms: (a) conversion of carbon's hybridized state, (b) dipole interactions enhanced via quantum capacitance, and (c) orbital hybridization with an interfacing molecule. A few graphenic materials are also identified where further studies are essential to understand the effect of their functionalization.     

Document categories in the ISI Web of Knowledge: Misunderstanding the Social Sciences?

Thomson Reuter’s ISI Web of Knowledge (or ISI for short) is used in the majority of benchmarking analyses and bibliometric research projects. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the limitations of data provided by ISI. This article deals with a limitation that disproportionally affects the Social Sciences: ISI’s misclassification of journal articles containing original research into the “review” or “proceedings paper” category. I report on a comprehensive, 11 year analysis, of document categories for 27 journals in nine Social Science and Science disciplines. I show that although ISI’s “proceedings paper” and “review” classifications seem to work fairly well in the Sciences, they illustrate a profound misunderstanding of research and publication practices in the Social Sciences.     

Knowledge Transfer and Innovation in Germany and Britain: ‘Intermediate Institution’ Models of Knowledge Transfer under Strain?

This article investigates the links between knowledge transfer activities and innovation performance in Germany and Britain through a detailed comparison of matched samples of electronics production and research establishments in the two countries. In contrast to mature industries such as mechanical engineering, German performance in electronics is not found to be greatly enhanced by the role played by intermediate research institutes in “bridging the gap” between the academic science base and business enterprises.     

The Inventive,the Educated and the Creative: How Do They Affect Metropolitan Productivity?

A longstanding research tradition assumes that endogenous technological development increases regional productivity. It has been assumed that measures of regional patenting activity or human capital are an adequate way to capture the endogenous creation of new ideas that result in productivity improvements. This process has been conceived as occurring in two stages. First, an invention or innovation is generated, and then it is developed and commercialized to create benefits for the individual or firm owning the idea. Typically these steps are combined into a single model of the “invention in/productivity out” variety. Using data on Gross Metropolitan Product per worker and on inventors, educational attainment, and creative workers (together with other important socioeconomic controls), we unpack the model back to the two-step process and use a SEM modeling framework to investigate the relationships among inventive activity and potential inventors, regional technology levels, and regional productivity outcomes. Our results show almost no significant direct relationship between invention and productivity, except through technology. Clearly, the simplification of the “invention in/productivity out” model does not hold, which supports other work that questions the use of patents and patenting related measures as meaningful innovation inputs to processes that generate regional productivity and productivity gains. We also find that the most effective measure of regional inventive capacity, in terms of its effect on technology, productivity, and productivity growth is the share of the workforce engaged in creative activities.     

Determination of the Chemical Potential of Mass‐ and Heat‐Transfer Processes in Porous Bodies

The problem of determining the chemical potential of mass and heattransfer processes for porous bodies of a classical shape (an infinite plate, a sphere, etc.) is considered; the solution obtained is illustrated with examples of the nonisothermal extraction and nonisothermal adsorption purification of vegetable oils.     

American technocracy and Chinese response: Theories and practices of Chinese expert politics in the period of the Nanjing Government, 1927–1949

This article describes the spread of the American technocracy movement in China during the 1930s and traces the appeal of a technocratic society among Chinese intellectuals. From 1931 to 1935, Chinese newspapers and magazines translated and published the writing of American technocrats, which inspired Chinese thinkers to explore technocratic ideals. This paper argues that the Nanjing Government (which operated from 1927 to 1949) upheld the Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt administrations as examples of expert politics in action. By studying American technocracy, China remolded American style “expert politics” into expert politics with Chinese characteristics. Although this article contends that American technocracy was the external motivating factor for the movement in China, it also establishes the uniqueness of Chinese technocracy as the merging of Chinese tradition and Western thought, and illustrates key differences between the practices of expert politics in each nation. Such divergences include the emphasis of Chinese technocrats on increasing national power and the movement's failure to change the fundamental power regime in China. The histories of both United States and China show, contra Veblen and other theorists, that technocratic governments, though powerful forces, were not able to bring about any lasting change in political structures.     

Chinese Multinational Enterprises in Europe and Africa: How do They Perceive Political Risk?

The concept of political risk has been defined from the perspective of developed-country multinational enterprises (MNEs) and has mainly focused on the political and regulatory perils in developing host countries. However, we have limited understanding of how emerging market firms perceive political risk in international marketplaces. Adopting a case study method, we examine how Chinese MNEs perceive political risk when operating in developed and developing host countries, specifically, the European Union (EU) and Africa. Our findings show that Chinese MNEs regard their home-country origin and industry-specific restrictions as major political risks in the EU. By contrast, they consider the volatile political environment in some African countries as the main source of political risk. In addition to the sharp contrast in the political and regulatory environment between the EU and African states, Chinese MNEs commonly encounter political risks in both markets due to their own behaviour.     

Who Follows Whom? A Location Study of Chinese Private and State-Owned Companies in the European Union

This paper analyses the location decision of Chinese manufacturing firms for their greenfield investments in Europe. The analysis draws on neo-institutional theory to formulate hypotheses on the importance of mimicry in Chinese firms’ location decisions and how this differs between private and state-owned enterprises. The analysis is conducted at the subnational (regional) level while taking into account economic integration across regions. The results confirm the importance of mimicry and show that Chinese firms not only follow previous Chinese investors in the same sector but also in unrelated sectors. Furthermore, Chinese investors only follow previous investments by Chinese private-owned companies while the results also show that Chinese private-owned companies generally have a higher tendency than state-owned companies do to follow prior investment decisions by compatriot firms. As the empirical evidence demonstrates the importance of bandwagon effects, the implication is that investment decisions can have a lasting influence on the geographical pattern of Chinese investments across regions.     

Technological or social? Influencing factors and mechanisms of the psychological digital divide in rural Chinese elderly

The psychological digital divide (PDD) significantly impacts participation and may hinder the development of smart rural communities. This study aimed to address the issue by conducting a questionnaire survey of 394 elderly individuals from rural China, revealing the essential characteristics and core mechanisms of PDD based on the relative deprivation theory (RDT). The study also focused on a moderation test of cognitive age to validate its critical role in the formation of PDD among rural elderly individuals. The final results confirmed the stability of the PDD induction model and highlighted that the information systems (IS) continuance intention of the elderly can be affected by both technological and social environments, through relative digital deprivation. Specifically, social exclusion and technology anxiety were identified as key drivers of PDD, with technology anxiety having a stronger impact. Furthermore, the cognitive age of elderly individuals intensifies the negative influence of relative digital deprivation on IS continuance intention, while also strengthening the relationship between social exclusion and relative digital deprivation. These findings not only shed light on the nature of PDD but also provide a theoretical framework for understanding the transition from social to digital exclusion.     

Do men and women differ in their use of tables and graphs in academic publications?

In psychological research there is huge literature on differences between the sexes. Typically it used to be thought that women were more verbally and men more spatially oriented. These differences now seem to be waning. In this article we present three studies on sex differences in the use of tables and graphs in academic articles. These studies are based on data mining from approximately 2,000 articles published in over 200 peer-reviewed journals in the sciences and social sciences. In Study 1 we found that, in the sciences, men used 26 % more graphs and figures than women, but that there were no significant differences between them in their use of tables. In Study 2 we found no significant differences between men and women in their use of graphs and figures or tables in social science articles. In Study 3 we found no significant differences between men and women in their use of what we termed ‘data’ and ‘text’ tables in social science articles. It is possible that these findings indicate that academic writing is now becoming a genre that is equally undertaken by men and women.     

Modeling of Processes of the Formation and Transformations of Nanoclusters in a Rapidly‐Cooling Mixture of a Vapor and an Inert Gas

Abstract

As the initial state, we consider a high‐temperature vapor consisting of atoms (or a mixture of atoms and small clusters). It is assumed that during a rapid expansion of the vapor and its mixing with a buffer gas (e.g., helium), it cools down to the temperature when the dissociation of clusters run slowly, while the processes of nucleation (association) of particles dominate. Such approach was employed, e.g., for modeling of processes of formation of carbon nanoclusters (CNC) in a carbon arc.     

Technology in Engineering Education: What Do the Faculty Know and Want?

There currently exists a great interest in integrating technology into the engineering curriculum. The Southeastern University and College Coalition for Engineering Education (SUCCEED) has identified this topic to be one of four “focus areas” for the coalition, and is committed to supporting the effective use of technology in enhancing the learning and teaching environment. We report here the results of a survey of engineering faculty at the coalition universities to identify the training needs and present levels of experience with various technologies. The most surprising finding is that, despite the wide differences in the Coalition's colleges of engineering, the survey results are similar for all campuses. This implies that the results may be widely applicable to other universities. Generally, we found that the faculty's interest in receiving training in a specific technology is highly correlated with a low skill level for that topic, as expected. Of the ten potential workshop topics, those in highest demand include:

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