Evaluating the Efficiency of Research in Academic Departments: an Empirical Analysis in an Italian Region     

Tommaso Agasisti  Antonio Dal Bianco  Paolo Landoni  Alessandro Sala  Mario Salerno 《Higher Education Quarterly》2011,65(3):267-289

This paper investigates the efficiency of university departments in science, technology and medicine in an Italian Region (Lombardy). The aim of the paper is twofold: (i) to analyse the changes in productivity in recent years (from 2004 and 2007); and (ii) to detect factors that are potentially affecting efficiency. The research benefited from a new and unique dataset (called QuESTIO) developed by the Lombardy Regional Government. Using facilities and academic staff as inputs and research grants and publications as outputs, the research activity of academic departments was modelled. The methodological approach for computing efficiency scores is (DEA) Data Envelopment Analysis; Malmquist indexes have been used to measure changes in productivity, while Kruskal‐Wallis tests were employed to study the potential determinants of efficiency. Two main results were obtained. First, the academic departments improved their efficiency but, at the same time, the efficiency frontier worsened. Second, external and measurable factors (such as scientific sector, proportion of tenured staff, location, etc.) have a limited impact in explaining efficiency differentials. The policy implications of both results are discussed.  相似文献   

Degree flexibility and university drop-out: The Italian experience     

Giorgio Di Pietro  Andrea Cutillo   《Economics of Education Review》2008,27(5):546-555

How to reduce university drop-out is a topic of increasing concern. Although several measures have been the subject of numerous debates, little attention has been given to those impacting on the duration, structure and content of the supply of university education. This paper looks at the Italian experience to see what can be learnt about the effectiveness of these measures. In 2001, the Italian university system embarked on a process of reform that introduced greater flexibility in the degree programme structure along with a wider range of services offered to students. Employing a decomposition analysis, we find that this reform is associated with changes in student behaviour leading to a decline in drop-out risk.  相似文献   

Long-term correlations in short,non-stationary time series: An application to international R&D collaborations     

Lorenzo Righetto  Alessandro Spelta  Emanuele Rabosio  Fabio Pammolli 《Journal of Informetrics》2019,13(2):583-592

Within the perimeter of patent collaboration networks, the average distance of collaborations and the number of countries involved per each collaboration have been shown to have increased steadily in time. Less attention, though, has been devoted to assessing whether this growth of cross-country collaborations is stable in time. To address this scientific question we focus on the identification of long-term correlations (i.e. temporal persistence). Our data set consists of time series of yearly average collaboration radii and of cross-border links in the Euro-American subsystem of the global collaboration network for the period 1978–2014. To investigate the fundamental persistence properties of these time series, we use Detrended Fluctuation Analysis, a method that allows us to measure long-term correlations in detrended signals. Also, we devise a general and original procedure to assess the statistical significance of results for short time series. Our results, showing that long-term correlations do exist in the majority of our signals, reinforce the hypothesis of a diminishing role of geographical distance in technological collaborations. Results at national level show that a significant degree of heterogeneity in persistence parameters can be detected within Europe, irrespectively of the efforts towards the set-up of an integrated European Research Area.  相似文献   

Student perceptions and instructional evaluations: A multivariate analysis of online and face-to-face classroom settings     

Billy R. Brocato  Alessandro Bonanno  Stacy Ulbig 《Education and Information Technologies》2015,20(1):37-55

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Clinical and diagnostic utility of saliva as a non-invasive diagnostic fluid:?a systematic review     

Lazaro Alessandro Soares Nunes  Sayeeda Mussavira  Omana Sukumaran Bindhu 《Biochemia medica : ?asopis Hrvatskoga dru?tva medicinskih biokemi?ara / HDMB》2015,25(2):177-192

This systematic review presents the latest trends in salivary research and its applications in health and disease. Among the large number of analytes present in saliva, many are affected by diverse physiological and pathological conditions. Further, the non-invasive, easy and cost-effective collection methods prompt an interest in evaluating its diagnostic or prognostic utility. Accumulating data over the past two decades indicates towards the possible utility of saliva to monitor overall health, diagnose and treat various oral or systemic disorders and drug monitoring. Advances in saliva based systems biology has also contributed towards identification of several biomarkers, development of diverse salivary diagnostic kits and other sensitive analytical techniques. However, its utilization should be carefully evaluated in relation to standardization of pre-analytical and analytical variables, such as collection and storage methods, analyte circadian variation, sample recovery, prevention of sample contamination and analytical procedures. In spite of all these challenges, there is an escalating evolution of knowledge with the use of this biological matrix.Key words: saliva, non-invasive, biological markers, drug monitoring, oral health  相似文献   

Three-dimensional kinematic analysis of the golf swing using instantaneous screw axis theory,part 1: methodology and verification     

Alessandro Vena  Dave Budney  Tom Forest  Jason P. Carey 《Sports Engineering》2011,13(3):105-123

A number of recent studies have measured the extent and timing of segment rotation during the golf swing. A promising technique, instantaneous screw axis (ISA) theory, could provide a better expression of segment rotation. In Part 1 of this two-part study, the objectives are to identify the ISA of the pelvis, shoulders and left arm during the downswing, compute segment angular velocity relative to that segment’s ISA and verify that ISA theory is a valid tool to analyse segment rotation during the golf swing. Results indicate that for all subjects, at least 71% of marker velocity is a result of rotation about their respective ISA, when averaging results over the duration of the downswing, confirming that motion is primarily rotational. Furthermore, ISA position and orientation of each segment approaches, on average, the expected gross axis of rotation, confirming that motion about the ISA is representative of joint motion.  相似文献   

The Impact of Research and Teaching Quality Inputs on the Employment Outcomes of Postgraduates     

Peter Urwin  Giorgio Di Pietro 《Higher Education Quarterly》2005,59(4):275-295

In this paper we analyse the extent to which the quality of teaching and research inputs, as measured by Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) and Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) scores, can account for variations in the employability of taught postgraduates. Pooling data from the 1997, 1998 and 1999 First Destinations Surveys we estimate regression equations for male and female UK postgraduates. Our results suggest that the lack of direct financial rewards associated with a higher QAA score may have persuaded many institutions to adopt a ‘threshold’ approach to Subject Review. However, the impact of RAE score suggests that students in institutions with a stronger research culture do have enhanced levels of employability. This is in line with the strong emphasis on active research input mandated by many professional bodies at the postgraduate level. When considered alongside recent policy pronouncements, this suggests that many institutions choosing to become teaching‐only, may ultimately risk becoming undergraduate‐only.  相似文献   

Black limestone used in Lombard architecture     

Nicoletta Marinoni  Alessandro Pavese  Roberto Bugini  Giuseppe Di Silvestro 《Journal of Cultural Heritage》2002,3(4):915

Black limestone samples from the quarries of Varenna (Lecco, I), Cene (Bergamo, I) and Riva di Solto (Bergamo, I) and widely used in Lombard architecture have been studied in terms of mineralogical, petrographic and chemical properties in order to provide a detailed characterisation and allow an unambiguous determination of their provenance. The inorganic and organic fractions have been separated from each other, and investigated using X-ray powder diffraction, atomic absorption, Hg-porosimetry, high performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The occurrence of specific mineral phases, some binary chemical patterns (Fe/Mn, Zn/Sr, Zn/Co and Na/Cd) and the carbon chain relative molecular masses has proven to be useful markers to characterise unequivocally the materials studied.  相似文献   

Adaptive unit-vector control of an uncertain heat diffusion process     

Alessandro Pisano 《Journal of The Franklin Institute》2014

This paper deals with the distributed tracking control of a heat process having uncertain diffusivity and subject to a distributed disturbance whose L₂ norm is bounded by a constant which is not known a priori. Under certain regularity assumptions on the disturbance and on the chosen reference profile, a distributed unit-vector control, with an adaptive magnitude, is designed which provides the asymptotic tracking of the reference. The logic governing the gain adaptation is gradient-based and monodirectional, i.e. the gain cannot decrease over time. Lyapunov arguments are invoked to support the convergence properties of the proposed scheme, whose performance are also investigated by means of computer simulations.  相似文献   

Besides knowledge: a cross-sectional study on the relations between epistemic beliefs, achievement goals, self-beliefs, and achievement in science     

Lucia Mason  Pietro Boscolo  Maria Caterina Tornatora  Lucia Ronconi 《Instructional Science》2013,41(1):49-79

This study examines the contribution of learner cognitive and motivational characteristics to achievement in science at three grade levels. Specifically, the relations between domain-specific epistemic beliefs about the development and justification of scientific knowledge, achievement goals, knowledge, self-concept, self-efficacy, and achievement in science were simultaneously examined. Students in fifth (n = 213), eighth (n = 202), and eleventh (n = 281) grades completed questionnaires measuring the various constructs, and a domain knowledge test. Their grades in science were also collected. Results from structural equation modeling reveal that the hypothesized model fitted the observed data at the three grade levels, although not all expected paths were statistically significant. Students’ epistemic beliefs about the development of scientific knowledge had a direct effect on domain knowledge, whereas beliefs about the justification of scientific knowledge had a direct and an indirect effect via achievement goals on knowledge acquisition. Mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals had a direct effect on self-efficacy. Knowledge had a direct and an indirect effect via self-concept on achievement. Educational implications are discussed.  相似文献