从合著网络及其变化看干细胞研究领域的国际科研合作

基于合著论文数据,运用文献计量和社会网络分析方法系统分析了2000-2014年期间干细胞研究领域国家间科研合作网络的结构与演化特征,对比了干细胞研究论文高产国家的国际合作模式与研究影响力.研究发现,干细胞研究领域国际科研合作规模不断扩大,一张高度连通世界各国的科研合作网络已基本形成;高产国家集中于北美、欧洲和东亚,美国、英国、德国和法国长期处于网络的中心位置;中国的干细胞研究论文高速增长,网络地位不断提升;美国与欧洲论文高产国家组成了密切的多边合作群体,亚洲论文高产国家的国际合作以与美国合作为主;欧美论文高产国家的研究影响力高于亚洲高产国家,中国干细胞研究的整体水平还与其他高产国家有较大差距.     

Discovery Through Gossip

We study randomized gossip‐based processes in dynamic networks that are motivated by information discovery in large‐scale distributed networks such as peer‐to‐peer and social networks. A well‐studied problem in peer‐to‐peer networks is resource discovery, where the goal for nodes (hosts with IP addresses) is to discover the IP addresses of all other hosts. Also, some of the recent work on self‐stabilization algorithms for P2P/overlay networks proceed via discovery of the complete network. In social networks, nodes (people) discover new nodes through exchanging contacts with their neighbors (friends). In both cases the discovery of new nodes changes the underlying network — new edges are added to the network — and the process continues in the changed network. Rigorously analyzing such dynamic (stochastic) processes in a continuously changing topology remains a challenging problem with obvious applications. This paper studies and analyzes two natural gossip‐based discovery processes. In the push discovery or triangulation process, each node repeatedly chooses two random neighbors and connects them (i.e., “pushes” their mutual information to each other). In the pull discovery process or the two‐hop walk, each node repeatedly requests or “pulls” a random contact from a random neighbor and connects itself to this two‐hop neighbor. Both processes are lightweight in the sense that the amortized work done per node is constant per round, local, and naturally robust due to the inherent randomized nature of gossip. Our main result is an almost‐tight analysis of the time taken for these two randomized processes to converge. We show that in any undirected n‐node graph both processes take rounds to connect every node to all other nodes with high probability, whereas is a lower bound. We also study the two‐hop walk in directed graphs, and show that it takes time with high probability, and that the worst‐case bound is tight for arbitrary directed graphs, whereas Ω(n²) is a lower bound for strongly connected directed graphs. A key technical challenge that we overcome in our work is the analysis of a randomized process that itself results in a constantly changing network leading to complicated dependencies in every round. We discuss implications of our results and their analysis to discovery problems in P2P networks as well as to evolution in social networks. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 48, 565–587, 2016     

Microscopic models for welfare measures addressing a reduction of economic inequality

We formulate a flexible micro‐to‐macro kinetic model which is able to explain the emergence of income profiles out of a whole of individual economic interactions. The model is expressed by a system of several nonlinear differential equations which involve parameters defined by probabilities. Society is described as an ensemble of individuals divided into income classes; the individuals exchange money through binary and ternary interactions, leaving the total wealth unchanged. The ternary interactions represent taxation and redistribution effects. Dynamics is investigated through computational simulations, the focus being on the effects that different fiscal policies and differently weighted welfare policies have on the long‐run income distributions. The model provides a tool which may contribute to the identification of the most effective actions toward a reduction of economic inequality. We find for instance that, under certain hypotheses, the Gini index is more affected by a policy of reduction of the welfare and subsidies for the rich classes than by an increase of the upper tax rate. Such a policy also has the effect of slightly increasing the total tax revenue. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 21: 89–98, 2016     

Investigating students' levels of engagement with mathematics: critical events,motivations, and influences on behaviour

Universities invest significant resources in the provision of mathematics tuition to first year students, through both traditional and non-traditional means. Research has shown that a significant minority of students do not engage with these resources appropriately. This paper presents findings from a study of two groups of students at Maynooth University. Both groups had similar mathematical backgrounds on entry to university. The first group consisted of seven students who had failed first year mathematics and had very low levels of engagement with available supports. The second group consisted of nine students who had passed first year mathematics and had engaged with the supports to a significant extent. It emerged that while both groups initially displayed similar tactics and encountered similar difficulties, their levels of reaction to a number of critical events in their mathematical education were key to their engagement levels and their subsequent progression. Further analysis revealed aspects of the students' behaviour which caused them to approach or avoid difficulties. The reasons behind the different student behaviours were investigated, and the main categories of influence on student behaviour which emerged from the interview data were fear, social factors, and motivation.     

A Brief History of the Balance in Society

One of the earliest measuring instruments used by human beings was the balance; evidence of this dates back more than 5.000 years. Initially, the weights of goods were measures rather of value than of mass. Besides yardsticks and graduated cups, scales are today the most widespread instruments, found in almost all laboratories, factories and households. Indeed, the balance accompanies us from birth to death. The balance very early achieved a metaphorical meaning and was used for the comparison of ethical values. It first appeared as an instrument in the death tribunal in Egyptian religion and later in Christianity. In the hands of the Grecian Gods, weighing was a deciding factor as concerns victory or death. In Judaism and for the Romans, scales become the symbol of justice. Several trade and handicraft guilds currently use the balance as an attribute, demonstrating in this way their sincerity and accuracy. The balance is of dubious significance in astrology, as one of the signs of the zodiac. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

社会和谐系数的构建与评价

基于城乡恩格尔系数、基尼系数、社会保障水平系数与城乡人口比,定义城镇、农村与合成的社会和谐系数.此定义考虑了中国的城乡二元结构的特殊国情,能够从经济学的层面较为精确地定量描述国家或地区的社会和谐状态,可用于横向和纵向比较.     

基于Geo/Geo/1(E,SV)排队系统的均衡止步策略

基于单重休假Geo/Geo/1排队系统,研究顾客的均衡止步策略,首次将休假服务机制引入到离散时间排队经济学模型中. 顾客基于“收入--支出”结构,自主决定去留. 利用拟生灭过程理论,运用差分方程求解技巧,对系统进行了稳态分析,得到了顾客的平均逗留时间;进而构造适当的函数,给出了寻找均衡止步策略的具体方法并证明之;而后分析了在均衡策略下, 系统的稳态行为和社会收益;最后通过数值实验讨论了系统参数对均衡行为的影响.     

Modeling complex systems macroscopically: Case/agent-based modeling,synergetics, and the continuity equation

Recently, the continuity equation (also known as the advection equation) has been used to study stability properties of dynamical systems, where a linear transfer operator approach was used to examine the stability of a nonlinear equation both in continuous and discrete time (Vaidya and Mehta, IEEE Trans Autom Control 2008, 53, 307–323; Rajaram et al., J Math Anal Appl 2010, 368, 144–156). Our study, which conducts a series of simulations on residential patterns, demonstrates that this usage of the continuity equation can advance Haken's synergetic approach to modeling certain types of complex, self-organizing social systems macroscopically. The key to this advancement comes from employing a case-based approach that (1) treats complex systems as a set of cases and (2) treats cases as dynamical vsystems which, at the microscopic level, can be conceptualized as k dimensional row vectors; and, at the macroscopic level, as vectors with magnitude and direction, which can be modeled as population densities. Our case-based employment of the continuity equation has four benefits for agent-based and case-based modeling and, more broadly, the social scientific study of complex systems where transport or spatial mobility issues are of interest: it (1) links microscopic (agent-based) and macroscopic (structural) modeling; (2) transforms the dynamics of highly nonlinear vector fields into the linear motion of densities; (3) allows predictions to be made about future states of a complex system; and (4) mathematically formalizes the structural dynamics of these types of complex social systems.     

企业社会责任下碳减排优化策略与协调机制研究

基于企业社会责任(CSR)的视角,本文研究由生产低碳产品的制造商和零售商组成的二级供应链的最优策略及供应链协调问题。通过构造供应链成员具有社会责任感的效用函数,分析了CSR对各成员的利润和环境的影响。研究发现:制造商和零售商都是通过降低碳排放水平来体现社会责任感;无论制造商有社会责任感还是零售商有社会责任感,供应链的利润都增大;在收益共享-成本分摊合同(RC合同)下协调,可以使制造商和零售商实现双赢(帕累托最优);零售商应该承担更多的社会责任,降低碳排放水平。     

基于风险偏好的供应链企业社会责任投入与定价策略研究

本文研究制造商承担企业社会责任时,竞争市场下供应链的均衡价格策略。通过Stackelberg博弈模型,探讨供应链成员的风险规避程度、竞争市场的需求波动性和竞争市场的需求相关性以及制造商企业社会责任水平对供应链均衡策略的影响。研究表明,在制造商承担企业社会责任时,风险规避程度对价格策略的影响依赖于制造商企业社会责任水平的高低;竞争市场的需求波动性较大或竞争市场需求相关性较高时,制造商向下游风险规避型零售商提供较低的批发价格合约, 此时产品的市场价格降低,消费者福利增加;当制造商的生产成本较低时,承担越高的企业社会责任导致消费者福利增加;反之,当制造商的生产成本较高时,消费者福利总是减少。