Data sharing platforms: instruments to inform and shape science policy on data sharing?

Scientometrics - Data sharing platforms are being constructed to make clinical cohort data more findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. Their primary purpose is to enhance the sharing of...     

How do Price medalists’ scholarly impact change before and after their awards?

Scientometrics - How a scholar's achievement and productivity may change by the award of an academic prize is a topic of a long-term interest in research fields such as scientometrics. Numerous...     

How do top management team characteristics affect digital orientation? Exploring the internal driving forces of firm digitalization

The top management team (TMT) plays a key role in the process of the firm digital transformation. However, few studies have focused on the impact of TMT characteristics on the digital orientation of firms. In this paper, we simultaneously explore the impact of the dispersion, aggregation, and background characteristics of TMT on the digital orientation of firms. Based on the upper echelons theory and strategic orientation theory, we propose that the diversity and average education level of TMT positively impact firms' digital orientation. The average age and tenure of TMT have a negative impact on the digital orientation of firms. The overseas and financial backgrounds of TMT members have a positive impact on the digital orientation of firms. Our hypothesis was tested using large-scale longitudinal data and computer-aided text analysis methods from Chinese listed companies. This paper provides useful supplements to early research on digital driving factors and digital orientation in emerging economies, and also provides more universal suggestions for digital practices in firms.     

How do digital technologies improve supply chain resilience in the COVID-19 pandemic? Evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms

Digital technologies (DTs) can assist businesses in coping with supply chain (SC) disruptions caused by unpredictability, such as pandemics. However, the current knowledge of the relationship between DTs and supply chain resilience (SCR) is insufficient. This study draws on information processing theory to develop a serial mediation model to address this deficiency. We analyze a sample set consisting of 264 Chinese manufacturers. The empirical results reveal that digital supply chain platforms (DSCPs), as well as supply chain traceability (SCT) and supply chain agility (SCA), fully mediate the favorable association between DTs and SCR. Specifically, the four significant indirect paths indicated that firms can improve SCR only if they use DTs to directly or indirectly improve SCT and SCA (through DSCPs). Our study contributes to the literature on resilience by examining the possible mechanism of mediation through which DTs influence SCR. The findings also offer essential insights for firms to modify their digital strategies and thrive in a turbulent environment.     

How do energetic ions damage metallic surfaces?

Surface modification of structural and functional materials under bombardment by energetic ions is observed under different conditions and can be either an unavoidable effect of the irradiation or an intentional modification to enhance materials properties. Understanding the basic mechanisms is necessary for predicting property changes. The mechanisms activated during ion irradiation are of atomic scale and atomic scale modeling is the most suitable tool to study these processes. In this paper, we present results of an extensive simulation program aimed at developing an understanding of primary surface damage in iron induced by energetic particles. We simulated 25 keV self-ion bombardment of Fe thin films with (1 0 0) and (1 1 0) surfaces at room temperature. A large number of simulations, ∼400, were carried out allow a statistically significant treatment of the results. The particular mechanism of surface damage depends on how the destructive supersonic shock wave generated by the displacement cascade interacts with the free surface. Three scenarios were primarily observed, with the limiting cases being damage created far below the surface with little or no impact on the surface itself, and extensive direct surface damage on the timescale of a few picoseconds. In some cases, formation of large 〈1 0 0〉 vacancy loops beneath the free surface was observed, which may explain some earlier experimental observations.     

Why do people switch mobile payment service platforms? An empirical study in Taiwan

Although an increasing number of studies have recently investigated mobile payment service (MPS) platform user behaviours, the majority of these studies have focused on user adoption. However, user switching behaviour has been paid limited attention as yet. The current study investigates critical antecedents of user switching intention of MPS platform drawing on the perspective of the push-pull-mooring framework. The proposed model was empirically tested with 612 valid responses collected using on-line questionnaire survey in Taiwan. The results of this study revealed that user regret, alternative attractiveness, perceived complementarity of the alternative, and perceived network size of the alternative positively relate to user intention to switch. The most critical push effect driving MPS platform users to switch is user regret caused by dissatisfaction with system quality and information quality, especially in terms of system stability and visual attractiveness. In terms of pull effects, the improvement of alternative attractiveness and perceived network size of the alternative should be paid more attention, so thereby expanding their provision of complementary resources can be considered as an effective tactic. Furthermore, inertia is also negatively associated with user switching intention. Of all of the sources of inertia, uncertainty costs are a major crucial mooring effect. The performance of sunk costs still leaves much to be increased because of the insufficient user use and investment in the incumbent MPS platform. The findings will be helpful for MPS platform practitioners when fully comprehending users’ switching behaviour and formulating appropriate strategies to retain existing users while still attracting potential new users.     

Economic crisis and company R&D in Spain: do regional and policy factors matter?

The economic crisis which began in 2008 has had a far-reaching impact, including effects on the innovation behaviour of firms. Many companies have reduced their innovation-related activities, although some firms have been more resilient than others. Using a representative microdata panel of Spanish firms, we study the probability of companies abandoning in-house R&D during the crisis and its relationship to regional and policy factors. We find significant regional heterogeneity related to regional economic size and the type of the regional innovation system; regional government R&D support only reduces R&D abandonment rates in regions where a strong system of knowledge exploitation is in place.     

How do you define and measure research productivity?

Productivity is the quintessential indicator of efficiency in any production system. It seems it has become a norm in bibliometrics to define research productivity as the number of publications per researcher, distinguishing it from impact. In this work we operationalize the economic concept of productivity for the specific context of research activity and show the limits of the commonly accepted definition. We propose then a measurable form of research productivity through the indicator “Fractional Scientific Strength (FSS)”, in keeping with the microeconomic theory of production. We present the methodology for measure of FSS at various levels of analysis: individual, field, discipline, department, institution, region and nation. Finally, we compare the ranking lists of Italian universities by the two definitions of research productivity.     

How do drivers behave during indecision zone maneuvers?

Yellow signal indications at intersections are well-known to be a contributor to traffic crashes. This study examined drivers’ behavior during yellow signal indication (i.e., indecision zone) maneuvers. Data from a driving simulator study was used, which included drivers’ performance data when they encountered a yellow signal indication at intersections under different secondary-task conditions. This study calculated drivers’ likelihood to go through a yellow signal indication and examined factors that are related to drivers’ decision making on intersection traversing. The results showed that drivers’ decision on stopping or not at a yellow signal indication was associated with different variables including age, distraction, pedal conditions, and time to stop line. Distracted drivers’ insensitive behavior was also captured from the significant interaction effect between time to stop line and distraction conditions, which implied that intersection related crash risk may increase when drivers were distracted.     

How do time pressured drivers estimate speed and time?

The purpose of this laboratory study was to investigate the influence of time pressure on the perception of speed and duration in driving situations. Participants provided estimations of speed and performed both productions and reproductions of time durations, based on traffic films. The experimental films were made from a driver's point of view within a moving car, and audio-recorded instructions invited participants to imagine that they were driving while under time pressure or while relaxed. The results obtained using this within-participant design support the hypothesis that time pressure promotes fast driving, and may induce an underestimation of speed and trip-related durations, the latter of which suggests that time pressure modulates time perception. Some of these effects were mediated by the emotional impact of time pressure. Links between time perception and speed were also observed. The discussion makes reference to internal clock models and focuses on the practical consequences of these results.     

How much do road accidents cost the national economy?

This paper presents estimates of how much road accidents cost the national economy, stated as a percentage of the gross national product (GNP). Official estimates of road accident costs from 1990 or later were compiled from easily accessible sources for twelve countries. Estimates of the gross national product were taken from OECD publications. On the average, the total costs of road accidents, including an economic valuation of lost quality of life, were estimated to about 2.5% of the gross national product. Excluding the valuation of lost quality of life, road accident costs on the average amounted to 1.3% of the gross national product. When valuation of lost quality of life is included, costs ranged from 0.5 to 5.7% of GNP. When valuation of lost quality of life is disregarded, costs ranged from 0.3 to 2.8% of GNP.     

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.     

Policy change analysis based on “policy target–policy instrument” patterns: a case study of China’s nuclear energy policy

Policy documents are the carriers of policy and provide a channel for researchers to observe the main contents of a policy and the policy process. Policy documents are different from traditional scientific texts (including papers and patents) because they serve the function of governance and blueprint planning. This makes it impossible to accurately describe the content of policy texts by relying solely on traditional word-based bibliometric methods. In this paper, we propose a new bibliometric method for detecting changes in policy themes based on policy target–policy instrument patterns. We collected relevant policy documents under specific target topics, identified policy target–policy instrument patterns implied in those documents, and built a policy target–policy instrument network. Then, based on the eigenvector centrality features of network nodes, we identified the core “policy target” and core “policy instrument” in different time periods and ultimately identified the evolution of policy instruments and policy target, and also the continuity of policy targets. A case study of China’s nuclear energy policies was used to demonstrate the reliability of our method, and the results reflect the practical value of this method in quantitative analysis on policy documents.     

Scrutinizing the collaboration criterion in research: how do policy ambitions play out in proposals and assessments?

Based on a commission by one of the Swedish Research Council, which has high ambitions to strengthen the collaboration between academia and society, this study aimed to reveal how researchers describe the collaboration with partners outside the university in research proposals. Globally, collaboration is advocated to bridge research-practice gaps and address complex societal challenges. This study scrutinizes how the collaboration criterion was operationalized in all research proposals submitted to The Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare in 2016. A content analysis of 381 proposals and related assessments was used to identify patterns and categories. Preliminary results were subjected to discussion in a workshop with 34 researchers representing granted proposals in the material, followed by further analysis. Comparisons were made between granted and rejected proposals. The applicants had made diverse interpretations of the collaboration criterion specified in the calls under which the proposals were submitted. The few that described theoretical underpinnings for collaborative approaches used a diversity of concepts but none of them frequently. Collaboration overlapped with other sections in the proposals. There is a need to develop theoretical awareness and conceptual clarity regarding collaboration and embed collaboration in research. In the context studied, collaboration with actors outside the university does not appear to be crucial for funding.

     

Abrupt climate change: can society cope?

Consideration of abrupt climate change has generally been incorporated neither in analyses of climate-change impacts nor in the design of climate adaptation strategies. Yet the possibility of abrupt climate change triggered by human perturbation of the climate system is used to support the position of both those who urge stronger and earlier mitigative action than is currently being contemplated and those who argue that the unknowns in the Earth system are too large to justify such early action. This paper explores the question of abrupt climate change in terms of its potential implications for society, focusing on the UK and northwest Europe in particular. The nature of abrupt climate change and the different ways in which it has been defined and perceived are examined. Using the example of the collapse of the thermohaline circulation (THC), the suggested implications for society of abrupt climate change are reviewed; previous work has been largely speculative and has generally considered the implications only from economic and ecological perspectives. Some observations about the implications from a more social and behavioural science perspective are made. If abrupt climate change simply implies changes in the occurrence or intensity of extreme weather events, or an accelerated unidirectional change in climate, the design of adaptation to climate change can proceed within the existing paradigm, with appropriate adjustments. Limits to adaptation in some sectors or regions may be reached, and the costs of appropriate adaptive behaviour may be large, but strategy can develop on the basis of a predicted long-term unidirectional change in climate. It would be more challenging, however, if abrupt climate change implied a directional change in climate, as, for example, may well occur in northwest Europe following a collapse of the THC. There are two fundamental problems for society associated with such an outcome: first, the future changes in climate currently being anticipated and prepared for may reverse and, second, the probability of such a scenario occurring remains fundamentally unknown. The implications of both problems for climate policy and for decision making have not been researched. It is premature to argue therefore that abrupt climate change - in the sense referred to here - imposes unacceptable costs on society or the world economy, represents a catastrophic impact of climate change or constitutes a dangerous change in climate that should be avoided at all reasonable cost. We conclude by examining the implications of this contention for future research and policy formation.     

How do recycled concrete aggregates modify the shrinkage and self-healing properties?

This paper presents the main results of a research carried out to analyze the mechanical properties, intrinsic permeability, drying shrinkage, carbonation, and the self-healing potential of concrete incorporating recycled concrete aggregates. The recycled concrete mixtures were designed by replacing natural aggregates with 0%, 30%, and 100% of recycled concrete gravel (RG) and 30% of recycled concrete sand (RS). The water to equivalent binder ratio was kept constant and recycled concrete aggregates were initially at saturated surface dried (SSD) state. The contribution of the porosity of natural and recycled aggregates to the porosity of concrete was estimated to understand the evolution of the intrinsic permeability and the open porosity. At long term, the maximum variation of drying shrinkage magnitude due to recycled concrete gravels did not exceed 15%. The correlation between drying shrinkage and mass-loss through “drying depth” concept showed that recycled concrete aggregates are affected by drying as soon as concrete is exposed to desiccation. A good correlation between 1-day compressive strength and 18-month carbonation depth was observed. The recycled concrete aggregates presented a good potential for self-healing as the relative recovery of cracks reached up to 60%.     

Controlling quantum phenomena: Why does it appear easy to achieve?

Abstract

The introduction of optimal control theory and associated optimal control experiments have produced many successful results for manipulating quantum systems including those of high complexity. These findings may appear surprising as hundreds of control variables are simultaneously searched to optimize a typical objective. This paper discusses the reason for this attractive behaviour, revealing that the origin lies in the quantum system simply being controllable and undergoing unitary evolution. Under satisfaction of these conditions, the search space landscape for maximizing the probability of making a quantum transition is shown to have no false extrema. Although real systems may not be fully controllable, this result provides the basis to explain the generally successful findings from quantum optimal control simulations and experiments, as well as provides a very positive projection of the future for the field.     

How is it possible? Why didn't we do anything? A case history!

Two similar serious accidents occurred at a metal refining process installation within a 6-month time interval. The first one killed ten people, and the second accident one person. The accidents provide a typical case history of how a safety management system and a corresponding organisation could have prevented the occurrence of such an accident or, at least, have reduced its effects. The case is also interesting because it illustrates the physico-chemical complexities forming the root cause of the accidents.     

Talking about automated vehicles: What do levels of automation do?

Automated vehicles have become a popular topic of conversation. Initially, these conversations were limited to technology developers, innovators and engineers, as they worked to progressed the various technologies and systems that are required to create automated vehicles. Then, over time, these conversations extended to other communities; lawyers, insurers, planners, policymakers, social scientists, and various publics all began hearing, and talking about automated vehicles – also known as ‘driverless’, ‘self-driving’, and ‘autonomous’ vehicles. Levels of automation emerged as a way to depict gradations or categories of autonomy, with tasks divided between those for the machine and those for humans. In this paper, we critically reflect upon the dominance of levels of automation – up to seven sequential ‘steps’ - proposed by a number of industry organisations. Focusing on the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Standard J3016, we signal the intended and unintended performative effects of these levels. We argue that current discourses on automated vehicles have been underpinned by a techno-centric, expert-dominated logic, and point to the benefits of more dispersed, geographically contingent, and socio-technical perspectives in re-framing the dominant discourse and allowing for more nuanced spatial and temporal understandings on future systems of (automated) mobility.