IC Research Research Articles

FROM DATA MINING AND KNOWLEDGE DISCOVERY TO BIG DATA ANALYTICS AND KNOWLEDGE EXTRACTION FOR APPLICATIONS IN SCIENCE

“Data mining” for “knowledge discovery in databases” and associated computational operations first introduced in the mid-1990 s can no longer cope wit h the analytical issues relating to the so-called “ big data”. The recent buzzword big data refers to large volumes of diverse, dynami c, complex, longitudinal and/or distributed data generated from instruments, sensors, Internet transactions, email, video, clic k streams, noisy, structured/unstructured and/or all other digital sources available today and in the fu ture at speeds and on scales never seen before in human his tory. The big data also being described using 3 Vs, volume, variety and velocity (with an additional 4t h V for “veracity” and more recently with a 5th V f or “value”), requires a set of new technologies, such as high performance computing i.e., exascale, architectures (distributed or grid), algorithms (fo r data clustering and generating association rules) , programming languages, automated and scalable software tools, to uncover hidden patterns, unknown correlations and other useful information lately re ferred to as “actionable knowledge” or “data produc ts” from the massive volumes of complex raw data. In view of the above facts, the paper gives an introduct ion to the synergistic challenges in “data-intensive” s cience and “exascale” computing for resolving “big data analytics” and “data science” issues in four main d isciplines namely, computer science, computational science, statistics and mathematics. For the realis ation of vital identified foundational aspects of a n effective cyber infrastructure, basic problems need to be add ressed adequately in the respective disciplines and are outlined. Finally, the paper looks at five scientif ic research projects that are urgently in need of h igh performance computing; this is in contrast to the e arlier situations where private business enterprise s were the drivers of better modern and faster technologie s.

Reflections on interdisciplinary accounting research: the state of the art of intellectual capital

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer reflections and critique not only on the current state of the art for intellectual capital research (ICR) from an interdisciplinary accounting research (IAR) perspective, but also its future directions. Design/methodology/approach – This paper offers a critical reflection based on the author's observations as an IC researcher, reviewer and editor. The author also supports the arguments with some evidence from the research about IC research. Findings – The author argues that most ICR is falling short of achieving “the most advanced level of knowledge and technology” of the art because it inherits flaws from prior research, thus threatening its legitimacy and impact. Research limitations/implications – The author argues that researchers need to go back to the methodological drawing board when designing IAR so future research can achieve its full potential. To do so researchers also need their research to be transformational to engender change, and to be transdisciplinary, which encompasses research beyond the current boundaries of accounting and management. Originality/value – The author identifies and introduces three research shortcuts that prevent ICR projects from being state of the art being copycat, Furphy and technophobic research which provide insights into why not all ICR research is not “state of the art”.

Improving internal consistency in IC research and practice: IC and the theory of the firm

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the usefulness of referring to a theory of the firm as a way to strongly improve internal consistency in both research and practice. To this end, the paper explores how a theory-of-the-firm perspective can assist in a consistent analysis of IC, focusing on five IC-related issues: the definition and the origins of IC; the set of property rights on IC; its role in the competitive advantage and the value generation process of the firm; the way IC can be valued, including issues relating to the internal and external reporting; and finally the most efficient way to effectively manage and control IC. Analysis is carried out referring to the strengths and weaknesses of the resource-based view (RBV), being the main reference theories for IC scholars and practitioners.Design/methodology/approach– The paper employs a deductive approach to explore how different theories of the firm shape the way IC-related issues could be consistently analysed.Findings– The research finds that referring to a theory of the firm assists investigating IC-related issues. It carries out the analysis of five important issues under the two forms of the RBV, demonstrating how a different theory of the firm differentiates analysis and offers room for improving the internal consistency for both research and practice.Research limitations/implications– Implications of the paper are mainly for improving consistency in research, but they also support practice as for consciousness and awareness. Limitations are as follows. First, the paper offers an analysis of only two selected theories of the firm. Second, the analysis is based on a deductive reasoning which can be criticised for the results, even if not for the aim.Practical implications– The paper offer stimuli to both theoretical and empirical research and practice. As for research, the paper highlights how consistency can be developed and also focusses on the way empirical research could be consistently carried out. As for practitioners, the paper assists in enlightening covered links between practice and theories.Originality/value– The paper pays attention to the role of the theory of the firm, as a way for improving internal consistency in the study and the practice of IC.

Rinaldo Castello: Berkeley Roots

When asked to write this article about Rinaldo Castello, I found myself reflecting on my own years at UC Berkeley, particularly when I first arrived in the early 1990s. As someone who grew up in Michigan, then attended the University of Michigan for my undergraduate degree, it was certainly a dream of mine to go to graduate school at a place like UC Berkeley. Initially, I was amazed by the faculty, all of them engineering luminaries. I have vivid memories of my first few days on campus, particularly the first time I walked down the corridor of faculty offices on the 5th floor of Cory Hall, awestruck by the names on each door I passed. Every few feet I would say to myself, ?Yep, I used his textbook?.yes, read his book?.oh, I?ve seen several of his papers.? However, after working a few months in Paul Gray?s research group (where, like Rinaldo, I was fortunate to find a place to hang my hat during my first year of graduate school), I soon realized that the uniqueness of Berkeley?s culture and excellence in IC research really lies as much, if not more, with the graduate students as it does with faculty. The leadership, the transfer of technical knowhow, and the breading of a creative environment was really attributed to the students that surrounded us. With every successive generation of graduate students, there always seems to be one student who stands out and leaves a lasting impression. Although Rinaldo was long gone by the time I came to Berkeley, stories of his leadership and technical excellence still abounded; so much so, that before I met him for the first time, I almost had a larger than life image of this person who embodied the ethos of a collaborative research group and had gone on to do so many great things in the IC design community. I met Rinaldo early on during my graduate studies at Berkeley and not only did he live up to the image, but he also became a great friend, from whom I have received so much technical advice and career guidance through the years, as do many former and current EECS graduate students from UC Berkeley.

The third stage of IC: towards a new IC future and beyond

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to reflect on the overall contribution made by the papers presented in this special edition of the Journal of Intellectual Capital.Design/methodology/approachThis article is an editorial based on the author's reflections of the papers presented in this special edition.FindingsIntellectual capital (IC) has a future, based not only on the third stage of IC research, which strengthens IC practices inside organisations, but also on a complementary fourth stage which develops IC eco‐systems.Originality/valuethe papers presented ground the third stage of IC research as a legitimate research undertaking, while at the same time recognising that we need to extend our IC missionary work beyond the boundaries of the organisation, and into the environment where organisations exist.

Colouring the numbers – on the role of intellectual capital in financial reporting

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to explore how managers are mobilising IC items when approaching their investors and analysts. To this date, there is a lack of knowledge surrounding the translation processes of IC, from corporate disclosures to the capital market. Little is known of how managers mobilise their IC in order for analysts and investors to embrace it and consider it to be a relevant part of corporate disclosures.Design/methodology/approachThe study applies a performative approach to IC, in which framing theory is mobilized to understand the duality of financial indicators. The empirical material was collected through a case study approach, focusing on the interim reporting practices of a Swedish online gaming company. The study investigated a total of 16 earnings announcements and their accompanying conference calls in the period of 2008‐2011. In addition, five interviews with top managers and financial analysts were performed.FindingsThe findings suggest that IC is highly dependent on financial indicators and can therefore not be treated as the opposite of financial capital. Instead of complementing financial capital, IC is the symptomatic quality of financial indicators, i.e. a way to make sense, contextualise and reconnect a disentangled representation with empirical phenomena.Originality/valueThis paper introduces a new way of viewing IC disclosures, expanding the knowledge and methodology in IC research. The paper also highlights the study of an important disclosure, expanding research on IC disclosures beyond annual reports. Finally, it offers practitioners additional insights in the communication of non‐financials to the capital market.

Future high temperature applications for SiC integrated circuits

AbstractThe main advantage of SiC is its high critical field for breakdown. This leads to much lower on‐resistance for high voltage devices compared to silicon, but at a higher price that has to be offset by system gains. However, it is not straightforward to exploit this advantage, which is clear from the many different device types that are presently being commercialized. There are other advantages of SiC yet to be fully investigated: the possibility of high temperature operating electronics and radiation hard devices. If integrated circuits in SiC are also available, the system advantage is larger. Here temperature ranges higher than that of SOI should be aimed at, and some of these new application areas will be described. An overview of IC research will be ended with a description of our selected technology operated at 300 °C (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Guest Editorial - Integrated Circuit and System Security

The Guest Editors' primary objective in organizing this Special Issue was to provide additional impetus for research in hardware security. Currently, the field is heavily dominated by testing, CAD, and IC researchers. They hope that researchers from other security fields will find the problems and the proposed solutions published here both interesting and important. Ten Special Issue papers are represented in this collection.

Special issue on Beyond the crossroads: the third stage of IC research

Special issue on Beyond the crossroads: the third stage of IC research

Localized relaxation theory of circuits and its applications in electro-thermal analyses

In the high-performance IC design with increasing design complexity, it is a very important design content to efficiently analyze IC parameters. Thus, the electro-thermal (ET) analyses including power/ground (P/G) analysis and thermal analysis are hot topics in today’s IC research. Since ET analysis equation has a sparse, positive definite and strictly diagonally dominant coefficient-matrix, we prove that the ET analysis has the advantage of locality. Owing to this advantage, localized relaxation method is formally proposed, which has the same accuracy as the global relaxation done with the constraint of the same truncation error limitation. Based on the localized relaxation theory, an efficient and practical localized successive over-relaxation algorithm (LSOR2) is introduced and applied to solve the following three ET analysis problems. (1) Single-node statistical voltage analysis for over-IR-drop nodes in P/G networks; (2) single-node statistical temperature analysis for hot spots in 3D thermal analysis; (3) fast single open-defect analysis for P/G networks. A large amount of experimental data demonstrates that compared with the global successive over-relaxation (SOR) algorithm, LSOR2 can speed up 1–2 orders of magnitudes with the same accuracy in ET analyses.

ICS Medal and Research Abstract Presentations

ICS Medal and Research Abstract Presentations

Tuberculosis infection control in rural South Africa: survey of knowledge, attitude and practice in hospital staff

A baseline assessment of tuberculosis infection control (TB IC) knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) was conducted among staff in a resource-limited rural South African hospital where nosocomially transmitted multi- and extensively drug-resistant (M/XDR) TB had been reported. Assessment consisted of anonymous questionnaires and direct observation during July-September 2007, soon after the report of M/XDR-TB. Data were obtained from 57 questionnaires and 10h of direct observation. While knowledge and attitudes were generally supportive of TB IC implementation, 49.1% of staff felt that the hospital did not care about them and/or was not working to prevent staff TB infections, and 42.9% were less willing to continue as a healthcare worker because of staff TB/MDR-TB/XDR-TB deaths. Practices were variable. The recent appointment of an IC officer and implementation of natural ventilation were strengths, but the facility lacked a TB IC policy, the patient TB screening process was inadequate, and 41.5% of respondents were unaware of their personal human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status. Respondents reported a number of barriers to TB IC implementation such as concerns about the confidentiality of staff health information, the stigma of TB and HIV, inadequate resources, and patient non-compliance. Assessment of staff KAP provided useful data regarding deficits and barriers to TB IC, and helped to focus subsequent IC strategies. Given the critical importance of reducing nosocomial TB transmission, it is recommended that facilities should conduct simplified TB IC assessment, ensure the confidentiality of staff health information, address the stigma of TB/HIV, and implement multi-faceted TB IC facility and behavioural change interventions. Behavioural science methods have the potential to improve TB IC research and implementation.

局部松弛电路理论及其在电热分析中的应用

In the high-performance IC design with increasing design complexity, it is a very important design con- tent to efficiently analyze IC parameters. Thus, the electro-thermal(ET) analyses including power/ground(P/G) analysis and thermal analysis are hot topics in today's IC research. Since ET analysis equation has a sparse, positive definite and strictly diagonally dominant coefficient-matrix, we prove that the ET analysis has the ad- vantage of locality. Owing to this advantage, localized relaxation method is formally proposed, which has the same accuracy as the global relaxation done with the constraint of the same truncation error limitation. Based on the localized relaxation theory, an efficient and practical localized successive over-relaxation algorithm(LSOR2) is introduced and applied to solve the following three ET analysis problems: (1) Single-node statistical voltage analysis for over-IR-drop nodes in P/G networks; (2) single-node statistical temperature analysis for hot spots in 3D thermal analysis; (3) fast single open-defect analysis for P/G networks. A large amount of experimental data demonstrates that compared with the global successive over-relaxation(SOR) algorithm, LSOR2 can speed up 1-2 orders of magnitudes with the same accuracy in ET analyses.

ICS Medal and Research Abstract Presentations

Free accessAbstractFirst published online January 1, 2011ICS Medal and Research Abstract PresentationsVolume 12, Issue 1https://doi.org/10.1177/175114371101200117

Competitive flows of intellectual capital in value creating networks

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to develop intellectual capital theory to include competitive aspects that influence value creation of the network.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical part of the paper is based on a qualitative case study of a network of collaborating competitors within the natural products industry in Finland. A total of 29 interviews are conducted involving 11 informants. The empirical material is examined through Verna Allee's value network analysis.FindingsBusiness relationships include both collaborative and competitive dimensions. By adding a competitive dimension to Allee's value network, a more exhaustive picture of the network emerges. Hence, the relationships not only consist of collaborative tangible and intangible flows between the actors of the network, but also of competitive flows that per definition may only be intangible.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is based on a single case study. The paper includes collaborating competitors, but opens up interesting avenues for further research as competitive elements surely are present also in other types of business relationships.Practical implicationsKnowledge received from partners is not always trustworthy. Still, managers gain more from getting access to knowledge they do not know if it can be trusted, than to be excluded from the collaboration.Originality/valueThis paper brings forward the notion of competitive elements in collaborative relationships. IC research has tended to mostly focus on the positive aspects of the knowledge economy, but has much to gain by realising that there are also negative aspects that affect the creation and distribution of value in a network.

ICS Medal Winners and Research Abstract Presentations

Free accessAbstractFirst published online January 1, 2010ICS Medal Winners and Research Abstract PresentationsVolume 11, Issue 1https://doi.org/10.1177/175114371001100118

Study of corporation identity system in Medical Scientific Research Institutions

The characteristic theory and main methods of the Corporation Identity System(CIS)have Successfully been applied in many corporations,resulting in simultaneous use by some medical scientif ic research institutions in their modern management under current new situations.In this paper,the new CIS system of the Institute was studied and designed based upon the CIS system theory followed by gradual introduction in the practical works.Via the demiled analysis of this CIS introduction in practice,the significance of this CIS system in management of medical scientific research institutions was investigated and some critical points needed to take care in the CIS intreduction process were concluded. Key words: Medical Scientific Research Institutions; Corporation Identity System

ICS Medal Winners and Research Abstract Presentations

ICS Medal Winners and Research Abstract Presentations

ICS Medal Winners and Research Abstract Presentations

ICS Medal Winners and Research Abstract Presentations

The Editor writes

There are several significant strands running through this issue of JICS, most prominently hospital-acquired infection (HAI), manpower issues and resuscitation. After the publication of the latest paper 1 on selective decontamination of the digestive tract, there is renewed interest in evaluating its role in the UK where MRSA is endemic. The ICS and ICS Foundation support the SuDDICU trial, and Rick Van Saene and his colleagues re-evaluate the potential role of SDD for intensive care in the UK. One of the CATs reviews the Bonten SDD paper. Roxana Curtis won the 2008 medical student essay award from the ICS research committee with her review of catheterrelated blood stream infection. Two further articles in this issue survey methods for reducing HAI, namely oral hygiene and the use of PICC lines to replace central lines. ‘Surviving Sepsis’ as currently practised in Scotland is reviewed. There is an interesting study, albeit on cardiac surgery patients, suggesting that the correlation between central and mixed venous oxygen saturations may not have the fidelity we hope when using ScvO2 to guide resuscitation using early goal-directed therapy. The trainee committee of the ICS has expressed concern about the route for trainees from a non-anaesthetic background to become consultants, because although 15% of our trainees are not anaesthetists, only 4% of consultant posts are currently held by non-anaesthetists. Chris Rigg has surveyed cardiac ICUs making pertinent observations about the role of cardiac intensive care in ICM training. And although not directly related, there is a fascinating article about veterinary critical care, which incidentally has the best photos of any edition! Andrew Quinn and his colleagues have summarised the proposed differences in death certification and further demonstrated the difficulties in accurate and consistent completion of death certificates. Som Sarkar and his colleagues review aspects of current practice of percutaneous tracheostomy, timely in view of the TRACman trial which has just been presented in Brussels. The concept and current state of hypotensive resuscitation is well reviewed by Kathryn Jackson in a shortened version of her dissertation for the UK DICM. There is another survey of the management of burns patients with inhalational injury, showing the need for consensus guidelines for their management. Jonathan Handy comments on GIFTASUPs, questioning the relevance of hyperchloraemic acidosis and pointing out some of the potential disadvantages of balanced salt solutions. Two case reports explore metabolic issues as well, one questioning the importance of metformin-associated lactic acidosis, the other reviewing ethylene glycol poisoning. There are our regular features as well ‐ more CATs, Society reports, a book review and letters. I hope you enjoy reading our latest issue. As always, thanks are due to our reviewers, proof-reader and publisher.