Fast-paced Innovation Research Articles

Fast-Paced Innovation: Its Role and Impact on Diversified Patenting Portfolios

Fast-Paced Innovation: Its Role and Impact on Diversified Patenting Portfolios

TECHNOLOGY AND OLDER ADULTS: BEST PRACTICES FOR ENHANCING USABILITY, ENGAGEMENT, AND COMMUNICATION

Abstract The massive growth in population aging has coincided with a time of continued fast-paced innovations in technology. Technology can be leveraged to support health, well-being, and quality of life in older adults with health, mobility, and cognitive issues and is a means of maintaining social engagement in later life. However, for technology to achieve its intended purpose, older adults must have access to and recognize the value of such products. Despite the sheer size of the older adult population, the field of Information Communications Technology (ICT), has long overlooked the perspectives of older adults with regard the design of ICT applications. ICT systems that fail to consider the diverse capabilities and attitudes of older adult users are likely to alienate a significant, growing segment of the population and will likely be underutilized. This presentation will review best practices to enhance older adults’ usability and engagement with technology, with an emphasis on user-centered design principles as well as innovative tools facilitating virtual ICT support and training (e.g., TeamViewer software) to provide older adults who have limited to no technology proficiency with the skills needed to navigate its use. Key takeaways from this presentation will include a greater understanding of the importance of design principles to enhance usability and adoption of ICT systems among older adults; means of increasing access and adoption of ICT applications; and how user feedback can be leveraged to inform adaptions to enhance the efficacy and acceptability of technology applications, and ultimately foster psychosocial well-being in older adults.

Emotion Detection with CNN Model and Song Recommendations using Machine Learning Techniques

Music is an exemplary tool to judge a person’s emotional state. It is the language of the soul. What cannot be articulated through words are easily conveyed through a melody. Music not only speaks to a person’s emotional and mental state, but it is also known to have a therapeutic effect on the listener. The traditional method of music recommendation uses collaborative or content-based filtering to recommend songs but a person’s song choices does not depend only on the song they usually listen to but depends mostly on their emotional state. With the fast-paced innovations pertaining to the music application industry, there is still scope of further improvement in the user experience and creating an encompassing application that not only allows the app users to enjoy listening to their favorite songs but also caters to their recommendation based on their emotional state. Thus, an emotion detection system using Convolution Neural Networks has been proposed. The user feeds in a custom playlist containing a mixture of musical genres that are classified into different emotions using K-Means Clustering. The CNN model detects the emotional state of the user and recommends a series of songs from the classified playlist. This interactive interface is a revolutionary innovation for users who need song recommendations that suit their current mind-state.

The Changing Environment in Postgraduate Education in Orthopedic Surgery and Neurosurgery and Its Impact on Technology-Driven Targeted Interventional and Surgical Pain Management: Perspectives from Europe, Latin America, Asia, and The United States.

Personalized care models are dominating modern medicine. These models are rooted in teaching future physicians the skill set to keep up with innovation. In orthopedic surgery and neurosurgery, education is increasingly influenced by augmented reality, simulation, navigation, robotics, and in some cases, artificial intelligence. The postpandemic learning environment has also changed, emphasizing online learning and skill- and competency-based teaching models incorporating clinical and bench-top research. Attempts to improve work-life balance and minimize physician burnout have led to work-hour restrictions in postgraduate training programs. These restrictions have made it particularly challenging for orthopedic and neurosurgery residents to acquire the knowledge and skill set to meet the requirements for certification. The fast-paced flow of information and the rapid implementation of innovation require higher efficiencies in the modern postgraduate training environment. However, what is taught typically lags several years behind. Examples include minimally invasive tissue-sparing techniques through tubular small-bladed retractor systems, robotic and navigation, endoscopic, patient-specific implants made possible by advances in imaging technology and 3D printing, and regenerative strategies. Currently, the traditional roles of mentee and mentor are being redefined. The future orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons involved in personalized surgical pain management will need to be versed in several disciplines ranging from bioengineering, basic research, computer, social and health sciences, clinical study, trial design, public health policy development, and economic accountability. Solutions to the fast-paced innovation cycle in orthopedic surgery and neurosurgery include adaptive learning skills to seize opportunities for innovation with execution and implementation by facilitating translational research and clinical program development across traditional boundaries between clinical and nonclinical specialties. Preparing the future generation of surgeons to have the aptitude to keep up with the rapid technological advances is challenging for postgraduate residency programs and accreditation agencies. However, implementing clinical protocol change when the entrepreneur-investigator surgeon substantiates it with high-grade clinical evidence is at the heart of personalized surgical pain management.

Semiconductors Industry – Importance and Challenges For The Eu Industry Development

Semiconductors are an essential component of all electronical devices, and therefore an essential part of our world today. With the fast-paced innovation and technological advancements, even more demand is being put on semiconductor industry every day, an industry that has already been disrupted by COVID-19 pandemic and its negative effects on global supply chains. The importance of having a strong semiconductors industry is recognised by countries in all parts of the world, as shortage of semiconductors, or chips, can, not only bring the technological advancements and electronics industry to a halt, it can also pose serious risks for national economy and safety. In line with countries like United states, China, Japan and others, EU has recognised the need to increase the competitiveness in the semiconductor industry, improve its position in the global value chain and increase resilience to disruptions in the global supply chains. In order to achieve this, EU has implemented specific measures to proactively prepare and respond to future disruptions in the supply chains, and in that way, strengthen European semiconductor industry. This paper aims to explain the importance of the topic of semiconductors in the context of today’s economy and industry, show the current state of the global semiconductor industry and processes which it involves.

Project capabilities in industry 4.0: future research opportunities in project management

Purpose: Industry 4.0 is transforming companies around the world through business integration, implemented by disruptive technologies, and accompanied by the transformation of data into information and intelligence. This research aims to explore literature about capabilities and project management, in the context of industry 4.0 manufactures, to identify research opportunities in project management. Methodology / Approach: A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) analyzed 55 articles discussing project capabilities developed by industry 4.0 manufactures. Originality / Value: This study fills a research gap, as no literature review has reported state of the art knowledge about project capabilities in the context of industry 4.0. Findings: Project capabilities were summarized in six perspectives: project management, business models, innovation, skills of project professionals, technologies, and data management. Project management surfaces as a structural capability to implement industry 4.0. Besides, collaboration among parties amalgamates companies in new business models, as well as project professionals and teams while they implement new processes, products, and technologies. Theoretical implications: This study uncovers opportunities for future research related to customer and data-centered business transformations of industry 4.0, including how to manage projects in collaborative business networks and implement fast-paced innovation.

INSURANCE COVERAGE DOES NOT MITIGATE RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES SEEN IN FERTILITY TREATMENT UTILIZATION: A SURVEY OF US POSTPARTUM WOMEN

Since the advent of assisted reproductive technologies (ART), fast-paced innovations have revolutionized the field, however, ethnic minorities have been less likely to seek fertility treatment compared to White women. Studies have previously been unable to determine the contribution of insurance type or geographic location to this disparity. The purpose of this study is to determine if racial/ethnic disparities in reported fertility treatment utilization exist among recently postpartum women and if this relationship is mitigated by insurance type in states with access to mandated fertility treatment.

First results of spatial reconstruction and quantification of COVID-19 chest CT infiltrates using lung CT analyzer and 3D slicer

ObjectiveLung CT scans are early diagnostic tests in evaluation of COVID-19 patients. Data are usually analyzed visually and the extent of infiltrations can only roughly be estimated. The aim of the present study was to create a software to spatially visualize and quantify infiltrated and collapsed areas in lung CT scans and set these volumes into relation with non-affected lung areas.MethodsA new software "Lung CT Analyzer" (LCTA, 1) was created from scratch in an international team-effort within the 3D medical imaging software 3D Slicer (2). LCTA consists of two components: "Lung CT Segmenter" implements an intuitive and semiautomatic workflow for the generation of lung masks. LCTA then uses masked thresholds of Hounsfield units to detect non-affected versus affected (emphysematous, infiltrated, and collapsed) areas of the lung. Intrapulmonary vessels are subtracted from the other volumes. Segment volumes are expressed in milliliters and displayed in 3D. COVID-Q was defined as affected divided by non-affected volume and can be calculated separately for both lungs.3D Slicer and LCTA are open source, freely available and maintained on Github.ResultsCT data of twelve patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 (9 m, 3 f) were selected for the present retrospective study. All scans were performed shortly after admission. Thresholds of Hounsfield units (HU) for areas of interest were defined prior to the study and processing was identical for all patients. The median time effort for 3D reconstruction was 8 minutes per patient. For more detailed results please see the enclosed table. A 3D Slicer demo data set (Control) has been included for comparison.ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic promoted fast-paced innovations such as LCTA in our hospital. LCTA was feasible, reproducible and easy to perform. COVID-Q correlated with COVID-19 lung involvement in all cases. All fatal cases showed COVID-Q values of > 2.0.LCTA enabled the serial 3D reconstruction of infiltrated and collapsed lung areas in lung CT scans. The procedure may be of great help in the future analysis of pulmonary infiltrates of any cause. In COVID-19 disease, volumetric lung CT reconstruction could result in the definition of new prognostic factors, identify patients “at-risk” in the ICU, and be useful for follow-up.(1) Lung CT Analyzer: https://github.com/rbumm/SlicerLungCTAnalyzer(2) 3D Slicer: http://slicer.org

Developing open-source software for bioimage analysis: opportunities and challenges

Fast-paced innovations in imaging have resulted in single systems producing exponential amounts of data to be analyzed. Computational methods developed in computer science labs have proven to be crucial for analyzing these data in an unbiased and efficient manner, reaching a prominent role in most microscopy studies. Still, their use usually requires expertise in bioimage analysis, and their accessibility for life scientists has therefore become a bottleneck. Open-source software for bioimage analysis has developed to disseminate these computational methods to a wider audience, and to life scientists in particular. In recent years, the influence of many open-source tools has grown tremendously, helping tens of thousands of life scientists in the process. As creators of successful open-source bioimage analysis software, we here discuss the motivations that can initiate development of a new tool, the common challenges faced, and the characteristics required for achieving success.

Developing open-source software for bioimage analysis: opportunities and challenges.

Fast-paced innovations in imaging have resulted in single systems producing exponential amounts of data to be analyzed. Computational methods developed in computer science labs have proven to be crucial for analyzing these data in an unbiased and efficient manner, reaching a prominent role in most microscopy studies. Still, their use usually requires expertise in bioimage analysis, and their accessibility for life scientists has therefore become a bottleneck. Open-source software for bioimage analysis has developed to disseminate these computational methods to a wider audience, and to life scientists in particular. In recent years, the influence of many open-source tools has grown tremendously, helping tens of thousands of life scientists in the process. As creators of successful open-source bioimage analysis software, we here discuss the motivations that can initiate development of a new tool, the common challenges faced, and the characteristics required for achieving success.

The Case for Further Reform of the Banks’ Advisory Duty in South Africa Post the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act 37 of 2002

The nature and extent of a financial service provider’s (‘FSP’s’) liability for the advice or information that it provides is a core issue globally and is frequently cited in complaints and lawsuits. Commercial banks are particularly vulnerable to advice liability and cannot afford to downplay the risk as they continue with fast-paced innovation. In this context the Financial Advisory and Investment Services Act (‘FAIS Act’) has attempted to intervene in the FSP– customer relationship by regulating conduct and elevating advisory standards. Unfortunately, the Act is constrained by antiquated distinctions and has failed to improve on the common-law advisory duty. It is hoped that the proposed Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill will improve on this. The current statutory exclusions from the definition of ‘advice’ lead to a dichotomy that is unhelpful in modern banking. Furthermore, the lack of recourse to a statutory mechanism in respect of what are currently deemed ‘non-FAIS’ activities is confusing. The consequences of the current legislative framework are a lack of legal clarity (which is not good for business), inadequate regulation, and an increase in abusive practices. A reform of the legislation is needed, failing which the courts should develop the common law to impose liability even absent a regulated advisory relationship.

Evaluating an integrated cognitive competencies model to enhance teachers’ application of technology in large-scale educational contexts

There are cultural and educational barriers that hinder the adoption of technologies in educational practice. This is mainly owed to how the majority of teachers are still digital immigrants lacking adequate preparation to work in an environment of fast-paced innovation and without the corresponding updates of cognitive technology. In order to mitigate this problem, in this paper we present an alternative framework that intends to increase the effectiveness of technological application in broader educational contexts bringing together three constructs causally relating the domains of Cognitive and Motivational Competencies (CMC) – relating to people; Organisational Institutional Complexity (OIC) – educational systems and Behavioural Intentional Use of Technology (BIUT) relating to adoption of attitudes. Measurement indicators were applied to evaluate each construct in order to better predict teaching behaviour in a broader educational context. The framework evaluation was performed by two focus groups composed of experienced, highly specialised education consultants who assessed the pedagogical, technological, teacher's behaviour and overall institutional/organisational environment involving the proposed alternative solutions. The discussions and results show that participants agreed on the proposed framework's usefulness and its contributions to help teachers mediate the gaps between school and the outside world, all the while considering political and administrative barriers. The evaluators also highlight the structured motivational and self-efficacy aspects that must involve teachers and other stakeholders concerned with adopting a new social action profile for the benefit of collectives. The next work to follow this paper will be a dissemination proposal concerning the Brazilian National Educational Plan, a technological adoption that effectively meets Education's institutional principles in this country.

Constructing vision-driven indicators to enhance the interaction between science and society

In this fast-paced modern world, science, technology, and innovation (STI) are key drivers that impact all areas of life at individual and organisational levels, deepening the relationship between science and society. The degree of acceptance and absorption capacity of STI varies across people and organisations within countries as well as at a cross-cultural level. As the values of people and society, in addition to the latter’s structure, are changing, it has been increasingly challenging to identify the aims of policies and the indicators to monitor those policies. When considering the future direction of STI policy, it is important to understand the interrelationships between individuals, society and STI from a policy perspective. In our project, to explore the desirous relationship between science and society, we propose the behavioural changes necessary for actors, such as citizens, policymakers, researchers, the media, and industry. We adopt an experimental ‘participatory’ approach to develop the indicator plan by conducting multiple workshops. This paper introduces our project’s experiment of designing such indicators through ‘vision-driven’ approaches.

The language of hip hop and rap in Tunisia: socio-cultural mirror, authenticity tool, and herald of change

ABSTRACT The Arab Spring has had noticeable effects on Tunisia in socio-economic, political, and cultural terms. Few predicted that the music of hip hop and rap could engage with the socio-political situation in Tunisia, especially after the downfall of Ben Ali's regime. Having survived as an underground music since the year 2000, the genre of hip hop and rap remains an aberration from the folkloric tradition. By adhering to the socio-economic reality of the Tunisian street, rappers attempt to claim authenticity in both thematic and language use, and by usurping the power of ‘space’ from the regime's control. With the songs’ fast-paced rhythms, catchy phrases, puns, vulgarisms, and linguistic innovations that use metaphor, hip hop and rap have struck a chord with Tunisia's youth. Tunisia's new social reality has allowed Tunisian rappers to express dissent and voice people's despair over the socioeconomic and political situation. The language and themes of rap and hip hop music offer a cultural mirror which shows the other side to the reported success of the Arab Spring in Tunisia. This paper argues that rap artists use language as a vehicle to claim the authenticity of their message. It also explores how the performative nature of the language of hip hop and rap interacts with the Tunisian culture and argues for the power of music in the context of political and socio-economic grievances in post-Arab Spring Tunisia.

Enhancing Biochemical Resolution by Hyperdimensional Imaging Microscopy

Two decades of fast-paced innovation have improved the spatial resolution of fluorescence microscopy to enable molecular resolution with low invasiveness and high specificity. Fluorescence microscopy also enables scientists and clinicians to map and quantitate the physicochemical properties (e.g., analyte concentration, enzymatic activities, and protein-protein interactions) of biological samples. But the biochemical resolving power of fluorescence microscopy is not as well optimized as its spatial resolution. Current techniques typically observe only the individual properties of fluorescence, thus limiting the opportunities for sensing and multiplexing. Here, we demonstrate a new, to our knowledge, imaging paradigm, hyperdimensional imaging microscopy, which quantifies simultaneously and efficiently all the properties of fluorescence emission (excited-state lifetime, polarization, and spectra) in biological samples, transcending existing limitations. Such simultaneous detection of fluorescence features maximizes the biochemical resolving power of fluorescence microscopy, thereby providing the means to enhance sensing capabilities and enable heavily multiplexed assays. Just as multidimensional separation in mass-spectroscopy and multidimensional spectra in NMR have empowered proteomics and structural biology, we envisage that hyperdimensional imaging microscopy spectra of unprecedented dimensionality will catalyze advances in systems biology and medical diagnostics.

Factors that Influence Mathematical Creativity

Creativity is a psychological construct that has gained research popularity (Akgul & Kaveci, 2016), however it remains a challenging one to define. The variety of definitions promulgated to understand creativity hints at the complexity of the mental process. Furthermore, as a subset of creativity, domain-specific mathematical creativity has also garnered a variety of definitions. The transdisciplinary research on creativity (Sriraman & Haavold, 2017) is seminal in this world of fast-paced innovation, invention, solution, and synthesis. Considering every human being with at least average cognitive abilities possesses the ability to think creatively (Baran, 2011), developing students’ creative talents and abilities must be high on a list of educational priorities. Much of the literature surrounding mathematical creative thinking is centered on trying to quantify an individual’s creative thinking abilities. There have also been studies conducted that enabled researchers to describe various traits and demonstrate multiple levels of creativity. The basis of this work will be to synthesize the characteristics of mathematical creativity, analyze the impact of specific teaching approaches on mathematical creativity, and examine the relationship between student affect and mathematical creativity.

Growing Fast and Profitably in High Competitive Telecom Industry: the GVT’s Case

This teaching case studies the remarkable history of GVT, former Brazilian telecom company acquired by Telefónica Vivo after revolutionized the telecom industry in Brazil throughout its 15 years of operation. Telecommunications is an industry sector that faces constant turbulence, due to the fast-paced technological innovation and fierce competition, that forces the reinvention of business models in order to make companies thrive. Aimed at students from Masters and Doctorate programs in Administration, this case is useful for helping the professor to discuss in class about business models in a dynamic environment, as is the case of telecom industry. The learning objectives are to make participants able to comprehend features and limitations of traditional concepts of business models, guiding to the discussion of an alternative framework suitable to a dynamic environment context. The professor should cover the aspects of strategy of differentiation, consistent execution, process management and learning capabilities.

Licensing speed: Its determinants and payoffs

Abstract There has been much research interest in the speed of innovation, although few consistent findings have emerged. In this study, we unpack the innovation process and focus on the commercialization stage to examine two questions: Which licensor and patent characteristics determine the speed of licensing? How does the speed of licensing impact the royalties and lump-sum payments to licensors? We addressed these questions by proposing that licensing speed is influenced by variables for licensor prominence (size and experience), licensor knowledge structuration (technological depth, technological breadth and experience), and patent appeal (forward citations, scope and complexity). We predict and find that these variables work to increase the size, complexity and duration of the licensing-out task, while also allowing licensors to take their time to review, negotiate and select agreements with higher royalty rates. These findings are counter to arguments for a fast-paced innovation strategy, as it suggests that for the commercialization stage of the innovation process the relationship between licensing speed and licensor royalty rates rewards a ‘less haste, greater payoff approach.

Method-centered digital communities on protocols.io for fast-paced scientific innovation

The Internet has enabled online social interaction for scientists beyond physical meetings and conferences. Yet despite these innovations in communication, dissemination of methods is often relegated to just academic publishing. Further, these methods remain static, with subsequent advances published elsewhere and unlinked. For communities undergoing fast-paced innovation, researchers need new capabilities to share, obtain feedback, and publish methods at the forefront of scientific development. For example, a renaissance in virology is now underway given the new metagenomic methods to sequence viral DNA directly from an environment. Metagenomics makes it possible to “see” natural viral communities that could not be previously studied through culturing methods. Yet, the knowledge of specialized techniques for the production and analysis of viral metagenomes remains in a subset of labs. This problem is common to any community using and developing emerging technologies and techniques. We developed new capabilities to create virtual communities in protocols.io, an open access platform, for disseminating protocols and knowledge at the forefront of scientific development. To demonstrate these capabilities, we present a virology community forum called VERVENet. These new features allow virology researchers to share protocols and their annotations and optimizations, connect with the broader virtual community to share knowledge, job postings, conference announcements through a common online forum, and discover the current literature through personalized recommendations to promote discussion of cutting edge research. Virtual communities in protocols.io enhance a researcher’s ability to: discuss and share protocols, connect with fellow community members, and learn about new and innovative research in the field. The web-based software for developing virtual communities is free to use on protocols.io. Data are available through public APIs at protocols.io.

Electronic and in-person service quality of hybrid services

ABSTRACTThe service industries have experienced dramatic changes in service delivery format because of fast-paced innovation in information technology. Hybrid services involve service deliveries through conventional and technology-enabled environments, each of which is complementary and non-interchangeable. However, limited research has examined consumer behavior in response to a series of relevant service episodes in different channels at different points in time. In other words, how customers perceive service quality at each service encounter and how the cumulative effect of these perceptions influences customers’ overall service value assessment and satisfaction remain unclear. This study addresses this research gap by investigating the sequential influence of e-service quality on in-person service quality in a hybrid service format in which interpersonal and computer-mediated services coexist but at different points in time. Empirical analysis shows that e-service quality directly and positively affects in-person service quality, which fully mediates the effects of e-service quality on perceived value and customer satisfaction. The sequence of service encounters matters because in-person service quality perception has a stronger effect than e-service quality on customer metrics. Cumulative quality perceptions significantly influence perceived value and overall customer satisfaction. Theoretical and managerial implications are presented in the discussion.