Drivers for Inter-city Innovation Networks Across Chinese Cities:Modelling Physical Versus Intangible Effects

Cross-region innovation is widely recognized as an important source of the long-term regional innovation capacity.In the recent past,a growing number of studies has investigated the network structure and mechanisms of cross-region innovation collaboration in various contexts.However,existing research mainly focuses on physical effects,such as geographical distance and high-speed railway connections.These studies ignore the intangible drivers in a changing environment,the more digitalized economy and the increasingly solidified innovation network structure.Thus,the focus of this study is on estimating determinants of innovation networks,especially on intangible drivers,which have been largely neglected so far.Using city-level data of Chinese patents(excluding Hong Kong,Macao,and Taiwan Province of China),we trace innovation networks across Chinese cities over a long period of time.By integrating a measure on Information and Communications Technology(ICT)development gap and network structural effects into the general proximity framework,this paper explores the changing mechanisms of Chinese innovation networks from a new perspective.The results show that the structure of cross-region innovation networks has changed in China.As mechanisms behind this development,the results confirm the increasingly important role of intangible drivers in Chinese inter-city innovation collaboration when controlling for effects of physical proximity,such as geographical distance.Since digitalization and coordinated development are the mainstream trends in China and other developing countries,these countries'inter-city innovation collaboration patterns will witness dramatic changes under the influence of intangible drivers.

Future Directions of Quinoa Research and Innovation

Quinoa research aims to deeply understand its nutritional value,develop planting techniques,and explore food applications to promote quinoa industry development and improve human health.Future research directions include further exploring nutritional functions,adaptive breeding,cultivation techniques and food processing of quinoa,so as to promote innovation and development in the quinoa industry.Expected outcomes include increased production,improved quality,expanded markets,diversified food sources,reduced environmental impact,and biodiversity protection.There are still challenges such as fluctuating market demand,resource constraints,insufficient nutritional knowledge,and fierce competition.Solutions may include education and publicity,diversified product lines,health certification and brand building,partnerships,new variety cultivation and sustainable farming,and resource sharing.Future research and practice will further promote innovation and development in the quinoa industry,making it one of the most important food and functional ingredients globally.

Innovation leading development:a glimpse into three-dimensional bioprinting in Israel

Three-dimensional(3D)printing has attracted increasing research interest as an emerging manufacturing technology for devel-oping sophisticated and exquisite architecture through hierarchical printing.It has also been employed in various advanced industrial areas.The development of intelligent biomedical engineering has raised the requirements for 3D printing,such as flexible manufacturing processes and technologies,biocompatible constituents,and alternative bioproducts.However,state-of-the-art 3D printing mainly involves inorganics or polymers and generally focuses on traditional industrial fields,thus severely limiting applications demanding biocompatibility and biodegradability.In this regard,peptide architectonics,which are self-assembled by programmed amino acid sequences that can be flexibly functionalized,have shown promising potential as bioinspired inks for 3D printing.Therefore,the combination of 3D printing and peptide self-assembly poten-tially opens up an alternative avenue of 3D bioprinting for diverse advanced applications.Israel,a small but innovative nation,has significantly contributed to 3D bioprinting in terms of scientific studies,marketization,and peptide architectonics,including modulations and applications,and ranks as a leading area in the 3D bioprinting field.This review summarizes the recent progress in 3D bioprinting in Israel,focusing on scientific studies on printable components,soft devices,and tissue engineering.This paper further delves into the manufacture of industrial products,such as artificial meats and bioinspired supramolecular architectures,and the mechanisms,physicochemical properties,and applications of peptide self-assembly.Undoubtedly,Israel contributes significantly to the field of 3D bioprinting and should thus be appropriately recognized.

Dynamic evolution and trend prediction of multi-scale green innovation in China

Numerous studies deal with spatial analysis of green innovation(GI).However,researchers have paid limited attention to analyzing the multi-scale evolution patterns and predicting trends of GI in China.This paper seeks to address this research gap by examining the multi-scale distribution and evolutionary characteristics of GI activities based on the data from 337 cities in China during 2000-2019.We used scale variance and the two-stage nested Theil decomposition method to examine the spatial distribution and inequalities of GI in China at multiple scales,including regional,provincial,and prefectural.Additionally,we utilized the Markov chain and spatial Markov chain to explore the dynamic evolution of GI in China and predict its long-term development.The findings indicate that GI in China has a multi-scale effect and is highly sensitive to changes in spatial scale,with significant spatial differences of GI decreasing in each scale.Furthermore,the spatiotemporal evolution of GI is influenced by both geospatial patterns and spatial scales,exhibiting the“club convergence”effect and a tendency to transfer to higher levels of proximity.This effect is more pronounced on a larger scale,but it is increasingly challenging to transfer to higher levels.The study also indicates a steady and sustained growth of GI in China,which concentrates on higher levels over time.These results contribute to a more precise understanding of the scale at which GI develops and provide a scientific basis and policy suggestions for optimizing the spatial structure of GI and promoting its development in China.

China’s urban green innovation:Regional differences,distribution dynamics,and convergence

Urban green innovation(UGI)is essential to environmental protection,ecological conservation,and high quality economic growth.Using green patents,our study assessed the level of UGI of 287 Chinese cities at and above the prefecture level.Then,using the Dagum Gini coefficient,kernel density estimation(KDE),and con‐vergence models,we examined regional differences,distribution dynamics,and convergence of UGI across China.The study’s findings are as follows:(1)Overall,regional differences in UGI tended to narrow,and the main contributor to these differences was the difference between economic zones.(2)KDE showed that the level of UGI was rising,which was polarized within each economic zone.(3)The national UGI in economic zones other than the Northeast and Middle Yellow River Economic Zones featured significantσconvergence,while each economic zone showed absolute and conditionalβconvergence.

Disruptive Innovation in the Nordic Countries＇ Healthcare Systems

The Nordic healtheare model is recognized to be one of the most innovative in the world. Here billions of USD are annually invested in developing new treatments, drugs, robots etc. to diagnose and cure diseases. Nevertheless, this study establishes that there is a fundamental shortcoming in the system that supports healthcare innovation： It is strongly biased towards micro-level innovation projects focusing on new products, alternative processes, and new financial solutions. The problem with this approach to support new projects is that the results are created as inventions within the system thus lacking holistic perspectives. This has consequently contributed with increasing costs that are out of proportion with existing budgets. Therefore this study seeks to analyze the current understanding of the Nordic healthcare system from a business model perspective. Here other aspects of the healthcare system are explored to determine if they could be redesigned to promote new types of innovation projects. The purpose of undertaking this task is to challenge the established patterns of the current healthcare innovation support practices. Here the vertical innovation process （VIP） framework, which is a systematic radical innovation model that seeks macro-level outcomes based on standalone inventions （see more below）, is applied to analyze the current state-of-the-art in Nordic healthcare innovation projects. The results determine that very little attention is given to rethink and redesign the healthcare system at a macro-level, and it is discussed that stand-alone inventions ought to be rethought into the entire healthcare system to create a larger impact. Finally, it is argued that existing performance measures are inappropriate to foster projects that innovate the existing system： New measuring points should be developed to promote macro-level projects and to avoid the current rapid increase of costs in the Nordic healthcare system.

Optimizing techno-functionality of germinated whole wheat flour steamed bread via glucose oxidase(Gox)and pentosanase(Pn)enzyme innovation

Germination,a powerful biofortification technique,holds immense potential in bolstering the micronutrient profile of essential staple grains,thereby paving the way for optimal nutritional enhancement.The primary goal of this study was to improve the technological functionality of germinated wheat flour by incorporating pentosanase(Pn)and glucose oxidase(Gox)enzymes,with particular emphasis on the evolutionary changes in its components.The inclusion of Gox did not produce any substantial impact on the volumetric characteristics of the steamed bread.The incorporation of Pn and Gox has been seen to enhance the overall excellence of steamed bread by optimizing loaf volume and textural characteristics while also improving the thermal stability of the dough.The existence of two endothermic peaks could be attributed to bound water or alterations in the granules within the starch crystallization region.Adding Pn and Gox reduced and increased the formation and stability time of the dough,respectively.A certain ratio was employed to assess alternations in the crystallinity of starch granules over a limited range.After steaming,a significant decrease in IR1047/1022 was observed,indicating that the elevated temperature partially disrupted the internal starch crystal structure,leading to a gelatinization reaction with water.The ratio of tensile resistance(R)and elongation(E)of dough increased significantly compared to the control.The results obtained from this study indicate that the simultaneous inclusion of enzymes(Pn+Gox)holds significant promise for expanding the technological functionality of germinated wheat flour dough and improving the quality attributes of steamed bread.

Development Path of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education in Universities Under the Digital Economy

With the development of digital technology and new models of digital economy,innovation and entrepreneurship education in colleges and universities is facing a new development situation.New methods such as online courses,digital platforms,and value co-creation have brought new opportunities and challenges to the content,mode,and mechanism of innovation and entrepreneurship education.This paper discusses the content and new opportunities of digital entrepreneurship,analyzes the differences between traditional entrepreneurship and digital entrepreneurship,and puts forward the strategy path of entrepreneurship education under the digital economy.

Evolution Characteristics of Government-Industry-University-Research Cooperative Innovation Network for China＇s Agriculture and Influ- encing Factors： Illustrated According to Agricultural Patent Case

Under the special background of China, the cooperative innovation between different government-industry-university-research institutes plays an increasingly important role in the agricultural field. However, the existing literature has paid little attention to it. Considering the cooperation patents, published in the agriculture field stemming from the Full-text Database of China Patents as the study object, the spatial and institutional attribute of the authors as the data source, and by combining the social network and spatial econometrics analysis, this paper analyzes the structure evolution characteristics of cooperative innovation networks of agricultural government-industry-university-research institute in the city level of China in 1985–2014, based on the triple helix theory, with the influence factors discussed. This shows that, 1) since 1985, China's agricultural innovation level has been substantially increased, but the development degree of the cooperative innovation network is low, and the patent cooperation mainly relies on authors in the same unit; 2) enterprises play a leading role in the agricultural cooperative innovation. The effect of the government and hybrid organizations driven by the government is not obvious; 3) the cooperative innovation in the province and city dominates, and a multi-pole pattern has been formed. The cooperative innovation network structure evolves from a single helix empty core and double helix multi core to a double helix hierarchical network; 4) the city's science, education funding and personnel investment are key factors determining the agricultural cooperative innovation, while the agricultural development of the city presents slight negative impacts on it. The spatial mismatch of supply and demand is present in the technical cooperative innovation of China's agriculture. Therefore, the science enhancement and education investment to big agricultural provinces should be promptly implemented.

Evaluation and Influence Factor of Green Efficiency of China’s Agricultural Innovation from the Perspective of Technical Transformation

Agricultural innovation is important for the green transformation of agriculture.Based on the perspective of technology transformation,this paper builds a theoretical analysis framework and evaluation index system for green efficiency of agricultural innovation,and discusses the evolution laws and influencing factors of the green efficiency of China’s agricultural innovation from 2005 to 2017 utilizing the DEA model,Malmquist index,and Tobit regression analysis.The results show that:1)The overall green efficiency of China’s agricultural innovation is not high,the green efficiency of agricultural innovation in eastern China is mainly driven by pure technical efficiency,while that in central and western China is mainly driven by the scale efficiency.The green efficiency of agricultural innovation shows significant spatial differences,and the low efficiency and relatively low-efficiency regions moved to central and southeastern China.2)Technical progress is the main force affecting the change of green total factor productivity of China’s agricultural innovation,seeing a trend of decrease followed by an increase.Pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency exhibit an increasing-decreasing trend,and gradually transform into key factors that restrict the improvement of the green total factor productivity of agricultural innovation.3)Agricultural technologies’diffusion,absorption,and implementation are three influencing factors of the green efficiency of agricultural innovation.The local level of informatization,the number of agricultural technicians in enterprises and institutions,average education level of residents,and the level of agricultural mechanization have positive impacts on the promotion of the green efficiency of agricultural innovation,promoting the diffusion,absorption and implementation of agricultural innovation technology can significantly improve the green efficiency of agricultural innovation.

Does Industry-University-Research Cooperation Matter? An Analysis of Its Coupling Effect on Regional Innovation and Economic Development

The dislocation between regional innovation and economic development directly influences the economic effect of regional innovation. However, no in-depth researches have been made on how to solve this problem. Using data from Henan Province, China,employing geographical detector technology, this paper focuses on testing whether the industry-university-research cooperation can contribute to coordinating the relation between regional innovation and economic development. It is shown that: 1) the industry-universityresearch cooperation in Henan Province is increasing gradually, and the network presents a core-edge structure, and the coupling degree between regional innovation and economic development is spatially unbalanced, which is similar to the spatial distribution of the intensity of industry-university-research cooperation;2) as an important approach to effectively connect scientific researches with market demands, the industry-university-research cooperation can help form an interactive, interconnected, coupled and coordinated virtuous relation between regional innovation and economic development. Compared with the cooperation between organizations of the same type and the separate innovation of organizations, the improvement of the industry-university-research cooperation level can better coordinate the relation between regional innovation and economic development;3) the cooperative innovation model between enterprises and universities can better promote the coupling between regional innovation and economic development, compared with many industryuniversity-research cooperation models. For underdeveloped areas lacking local knowledge base, industry-university-research cooperation should be considered as a long-term development strategy, especially using the knowledge sources of external universities and scientific research institutions to enhance innovation capability and achieve economic growth.

Variational Quality Control of Non-Gaussian Innovations in the GRAPES m3DVAR System: Mass Field Evaluation of Assimilation Experiments

The existence of outliers can seriously influence the analysis of variational data assimilation.Quality control allows us to effectively eliminate or absorb these outliers to produce better analysis fields.In particular,variational quality control(VarQC) can process gray zone outliers and is thus broadly used in variational data assimilation systems.In this study,governing equations are derived for two VarQC algorithms that utilize different contaminated Gaussian distributions(CGDs): Gaussian plus flat distribution and Huber norm distribution.As such,these VarQC algorithms can handle outliers that have non-Gaussian innovations.Then,these VarQC algorithms are implemented in the Global/Regional Assimilation and PrEdiction System(GRAPES) model-level three-dimensional variational data assimilation(m3 DVAR) system.Tests using artificial observations indicate that the VarQC method using the Huber distribution has stronger robustness for including outliers to improve posterior analysis than the VarQC method using the Gaussian plus flat distribution.Furthermore,real observation experiments show that the distribution of observation analysis weights conform well with theory,indicating that the application of VarQC is effective in the GRAPES m3 DVAR system.Subsequent case study and longperiod data assimilation experiments show that the spatial distribution and amplitude of the observation analysis weights are related to the analysis increments of the mass field(geopotential height and temperature).Compared to the control experiment,VarQC experiments have noticeably better posterior mass fields.Finally,the VarQC method using the Huber distribution is superior to the VarQC method using the Gaussian plus flat distribution,especially at the middle and lower levels.

Fuzzy integral based measurement and assessment of medium and small enterprises'product innovation

A fuzzy integral based way of measurement assessment has been established by using linguistic varia-bles and combining fuzzy integral with hierarchy analysis for measurement of medium and small enterprises'product innovation. The conclusions drawn from analyses made with 20 medium and small enterprises providebases for governments to formulate applicable policies and for medium and small enterprises to enhance theirproduct innovation.

Deep Integration of Innovation and Entrepreneurship(InE)Education in Chinese University Classrooms

Recently,InE has been regarded as a popular education strategy in Chinese universities.However,problems have been exposed in the adoption of InE,for example,in InE courses and competitions.The purpose of this paper is to provide a possible solution to the problems,which is to organize effective InE courses by integrating InE with Inter-Course-level Problem-Based Learning(ICPBL).A detailed case is demonstrated by an ICPBL elective course design with deep integration of InE in the teaching,learning,and assessments.This paper contributes to a new curriculum design for promoting InE education in practically for Chinese universities.

Knowledge-intensive Business Services in National Innovation Systems

In order to find the roles of knowledge-intensive business services （KIBS） in the innovation activities, This paper focus on three perspectives. First, we find that KIBS possess good prerequisites to function as vehicles in innovation distribution, the sources of innovation and the facilitators of innovation in their client firms. Second, we further discuss KIBS as the knowledge and innovation infrastructure of society in parallel with the research, educational and other public institutions. Third, we present some research policies and agenda to promote the development of KIBS. It is regarded that much remains to be studied both in the use of KIBS and in their own activities, including integrating and networking the knowledge-intensive services into the client companies, the convergence of various services and closer connection with the client companies＇ strategy, and the national policies to connect the KIBS to the different sectors.

Sustainability and Innovation Capabilities in an Innovation Award Winner Company

The stimulus for economic development is innovation.The constantly quest of new ways to deliver value results from the need for competitive advantage.The introduction of social and environmental perspectives in the economic debate has made emerge a new element that turned to influence the strategy of companies,besides generating a new competitive scenario:the sustainable development.It is clear,therefore,the increasing requirement for firms to incorporate environmental issues in their processes.Companies face,so,a new paradigm,where innovating and considering the sustainability of the process is crucial to remain active and competitive in the market.This paper aims to identify the influence of the environmental dimension of sustainability on the innovation capabilities of a company.A case study was conducted with a company that won the Brazilian Innovation Award in 2013,due to a sustainable project.The results show that the environmental dimension is a determining factor for the arrangement of the company’s innovation capabilities.It is suggested then an order of importance of the company’s capabilities to achieve innovation through sustainability:(1)management;(2)operations;(3)transaction and(4)development.

Promotion of GSC Technology Innovation by the Green and Sustainable Chemistry Network

The Green and Sustainable Chemistry Network （GSCN） has been promoting GSC technology development since 2000 in three major activities, holding the GSC symposium, running the GSC Awards, and providing the information related to GSC in Japan. GSCN holds a vision to expand the philosophy of GSC not only to the domestic, but also to the global. As for a regional network in Asia and Oceania, we established the Asia-Oceania GSC Network, and we hope to expand the Network to all countries.

Future Network Development and Innovation Forum 2015 Held To Help China Accelerate Deployment of Future Network

The 5th China Future Network Development and Innovation Forum has been successfully held in Nanjing from December 10th to 11th,2015,which was co-hosted by the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Nanjing Government。

Informatics: The Frontier of Innovation in Health and Healthcare

The purpose of public health and healthcare is to create healthier populations. The purpose of innovation in healthcare is to accelerate the transformation of the work processes and economic models required to improve health. The use of infor- mation technology and telecommunications, and especially of health informatics, is critically important to these goals. It is an inspiring and highly productive frontier for engineering, science, and human behavior, and is the most direct path to unleashing transformative and beneficial innovations in healthcare. I believe, however, that it is under-appreciated in terms of its potential.

Research foresight in bridging open science and open innovation:Overview based on the complex thinking paradigm

Open innovation benefits from access to cutting-edge discoveries to increase their transformation into tangible applications for the benefit of society.Improving research quality has been proposed as a primary objective of open science by the United Nations,to increase science reproducibility,impact,and trust,leading to robust decision-making and policies.However,opening access to data and processes is insufficient for researchers to achieve open innovation in the context of globalization,for example,by gathering insights from external and internal sources.Developing the appropriate mindset to manage complexity and generate synergy among researchers in academia,industry,and the government is essential to catalyze knowledge and transform it into relevant innovations for society.To gain insights into the roles and challenges of researchers aiming to bridge the gap between open science and open innovation,a decade-plus Mapping Literature Review was conducted based on the complex thinking paradigm.Complex thinking allows for novel connections of the information collected through open science and open innovation,considering different forms of engaging with alternative means of knowledge creation that may promote innovative and critical thinking.The findings revealed:a)broad positioning of the terms in the European Union;b)open access and open data as current driving themes;c)a constant trade-off between the terms“open data”and“information protection”;d)lack of studies on researchers’complex thinking to help them manage openness;e)absence of the environmental helix in the initiatives;and(f)challenges in innovative communication and collaborative practices among public and private entities.Overall,we identified an opportunity to develop researchers’complex thinking such that the openness of information becomes a shared responsibility among partners across multiple helices.This shared responsibility can have methodological implications that permeate how open science and open innovation are theorized and,in practice,facilitate the development of fundamental collaborative research procedures.