Innovative Experiments Research Articles

An eight-year medical program aiming at improving the students' research ability: curriculum design and preliminary effects

The cultivation of research ability can promote eight-year medical students to explore the uncharted academic fields and solve complex clinical problems. One of the firts pilot universities to provide eight-year programs, Xiangya Medical College of Central South University builds on its profound experience in medical education, and establishes a curriculum structure aiming at improving the students' research ability. In the general education stage, cross-disciplinary courses are set up. In the core medical education stage, basic medical innovation experiment extracurricular research courses are set up, and a two-year overseas exchange program is set up in the postgraduate training stage. Different evaluation methods are also designed to meet the specific needs in each stage. This program has achieved preliminary effects. Key words: Eight-year medical students; Research ability; Curriculum; Medical education

Displacement mechanisms of slow-moving landslides in response to changes in porewater pressure and dynamic stress

Abstract. Although slow-moving landslides represent a substantial hazard, their detailed mechanisms are still comparatively poorly understood. We have conducted a suite of innovative laboratory experiments using novel equipment to simulate a range of porewater pressure and dynamic stress scenarios on samples collected from a slow-moving landslide complex in New Zealand. We have sought to understand how changes in porewater pressure and ground acceleration during earthquakes influence the movement patterns of slow-moving landslides. Our experiments show that during periods of elevated porewater pressure, displacement rates are influenced by two components: first an absolute stress state component (normal effective stress state) and second a transient stress state component (the rate of change of normal effective stress). During dynamic shear cycles, displacement rates are controlled by the extent to which the forces operating at the shear surface exceed the stress state at the yield acceleration point. The results indicate that during strong earthquake accelerations, strain will increase rapidly with relatively minor increases in the out-of-balance forces. Similar behaviour is seen for the generation of movement through increased porewater pressures. Our results show how the mechanisms of shear zone deformation control the movement patterns of large slow-moving translational landslides, and how they may be mobilised by strong earthquakes and significant rain events.

Contested Latitudes: When is Artwork Scholarship?

Abstract"Artwork scholarship" is defined in this context as a forum for inquiry that involves artful expressions, innovative experimentation and critical propositions informed by aesthetic characteristics as well as customary approaches for the advancement of the arts and education. ‘Latitudes’ in turn take into account the adaptations of artful expressions for educational purposes and the contributions of ongoing critique of art as scholarship. If we deliberate on the pedagogic turn to art as research in tandem with a disposition of latitudes, embracing the tensions of ongoing contestations implicated in such evolving conceptual geographies, arts‐based educational research (ABER) becomes a means to negotiate activities that articulate when is artwork scholarship, rather than what is art as research. In this way, latitudes as a proposition – metaphorically, pedagogically and spatially – is a potential mode for the mapping of theoretical, methodological and practical scholarly encounters, embracing the very tension that the arts evoke, and in the course of so doing, makes such work emergent and inclusive of creative possibilities.

Learning from Failed Innovation Experiments

A large body of quantitative empirical research has shown that organizations can and do learn from failure in contexts characterized by low causal ambiguity and low failure rates. However, it remai...

Does group farming empower rural women? Lessons from India’s experiments

ABSTRACT Efforts by governments in developing countries to economically empower rural women rarely focus on farming, an occupation in which the majority have experience. Those that do are typically directed at women within family farms, rather than at creating group-based alternatives outside the familial domain. In this context, two state-level initiatives in India, launched in the early 2000s, stand out, for their innovative experiment in group farming. They encouraged women to collectively cultivate leased land and become farm managers in their own right. Based on the author’s detailed quantitative and qualitative surveys in the states of Telangana and Kerala, this paper analyses whether farming in groups empowers women economically as well as socially and politically. Also, given the divergent implementation strategy of the two states, which approach is more effective and why? The lessons learnt can provide pointers for replication elsewhere.

A particle detector that exploits Liquid Argon scintillation light

A number of innovative experiments dedicated to neutrino oscillations and rare event physics, such as direct searches for dark matter particles or neutrinoless double beta decays, are using liquefied noble-gases, particularly Liquid Argon (LAr), as detection media. Among many advantages of noble liquids, from the detection point of view, the most important ones are high scintillation and ionisation yields, possible long drift paths of ionisation electrons and feasible large detector masses. LAr is sufficiently dense and relatively cheap and therefore is the only adequate noble liquid for huge volumes.This paper describes a particle detection system that exploits the prompt signals from the scintillation light produced by ionising particles in LAr. The detector has been exposed to cosmic rays. The system performance in terms of trigger efficiency and timing resolution, with a view to its application in neutrino detectors, is presented.

Beyond the lean start-up: experimentation in corporate entrepreneurship and innovation

ABSTRACTIn this essay, we argue that entrepreneurship and innovation researchers should pay more attention to experimentation as an approach to innovation and corporate entrepreneurship in established firms. While there is a growing body of research examining experimentation in start-ups, there is no corresponding literature investigating the role of experiments in the innovation and corporate entrepreneurship activities of established firms despite the increasing interest in experimentation among managers and the growing practitioner literature urging established firms to adopt experimentation. We discuss this trend and point to a number of research areas that we believe deserve systematic research.

Collaborative Role‐Play Design: Teaching Negotiation through a Novel Student–Business Partnership

Simulations are a valuable tool for teaching negotiation, and the different ways in which they are used have been extensively discussed in the pedagogy literature. Scholars have critically reflected on the role of simulations and the conditions under which they are used, and some have stressed their drawbacks. These include their often artificial context, which can, some argue, limit the participants' real commitment.We have undertaken an innovative pedagogical experiment in an effort to address these concerns. As a part of this experiment, the students designed the simulations themselves, deriving inspiration from real situations they had experienced at companies in which they had completed internships. Our students' experiences suggest ways in which this novel pedagogical approach can ameliorate some of the usual pitfalls that instructors encounter when they use role plays. Further, we believe this process allows the students to understand the importance of achieving the right balance between the distributive and integrative dimensions of the negotiation.

2001: A Space Odyssey as a Work of Experimental Cinema: Focused on Its Convergence of Technical Innovations and Aesthetic Challenges

Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film titled 2001: A Space Odyssey has generally been considered as a monumental piece of mainstream epic science-fiction. However, this film can be evaluated as having properties of experimental cinema by boldly trying technical innovation and aesthetic experiment in various aspects. From the filmmaker’s process to filmic structure, technical innovations, screening method, mise-en-scene, cinematic style and its (auto-)reflexivity, 2001: A Space Odyssey is highly experimental. We will attempt to separate out aspects of 2001: A Space Odyssey that derive explicitly from traditions in experimental cinema, whether adopting those traditions or innovating within them, by identifying the film’s experimental strategies and relating them to other experimental films that came before and after. This will show that the purely formal characteristics of the film’s conception carry meanings on their own relating to Kubrick’s personal expression, ideas about cinema and philosophy that go beyond the scope of the film’s narrative.

Race to the top: using experiments to understand gender bias towards female politicians

ABSTRACTGender balance in political representation is an important goal of governments. In this paper, we ask: Do voters judge female politicians less favourably than male politicians, when given an otherwise identical set of information about their backgrounds? We employ an innovative online experiment (N = 1933) to measure Australians’ attitudes towards female politicians and examine a series of hypotheses. We find voters see female candidates as more capable and are more likely to vote for them, but they are less likely to expect them to win. Female candidates are seen as more capable in their military and healthcare roles, but gender is perceived to be a major barrier to a female candidate’s success. Women and those aligning with the Labor/Green parties are more supportive of a female candidate, but we find limited evidence that those aligning with the Liberal/Nationals are openly hostile to a female candidate.

A Woman’s Place? An Experimental Study on the Interaction of Gender and List-Position Cues in a System with Gender Quotas

ABSTRACTThis research note focuses on the interaction of gender and list-position cues in preferential-list Proportional Representation (PR) systems in Flanders (Belgium). The list of candidates contains a number of heuristic cues that influence voters’ perceptions of a candidate’s competence. Flanders’s electoral setting, combining a flexible-list PR system with far-reaching quota regulations, provides a good case study for exploring this interaction. The results, based on an innovative survey experiment, highlight that the list position works the same way for women and men. Female head-of-list candidates do not enjoy additional advantages in terms of perceived competence. Since middle-of-list women do not suffer from reduced esteem, these results also contradict the concerns voiced by quota opponents that the use of electoral gender quotas will generate the perception among voters that parties select less-qualified candidates to meet the quota standards.

Lock-ins and opportunities for sustainability transition

PurposeThis study aims to provide an overview of sustainability in Flemish higher education (HE) by using the multi-level perspective (MLP) on sustainability transitions for a comprehensive empirical analysis of how sustainability is embedded in Flemish HE.Design/methodology/approachMLP was used as analytical framework to study the case and allow a focus on the interplay between innovative experiments in niche-practices, the characteristics of the prevailing regime (dominant structures, cultures and practices) and macro-trends at the landscape level. The data were collected through document analyses, surveys, in-depth interviews and a focus group. The empirical analysis was complemented with an extensive literature study.FindingsIn all, 9 landscape trends, 21 regime characteristics and 5 types of niches are identified. Furthermore, the multi-level analysis revealed 5 important lock-ins in the dominant regime that impede the upscaling of sustainable niches, 5 internal contradictions that destabilise the regime and can thus create windows of opportunity for niches to become viable alternatives and 16 opportunities for further embedding sustainability in HE.Originality/valueThe paper gives an original insight into the complexities of integrating sustainability in HE, highlights the important role of policy entrepreneurs to grasp emerging opportunities and offers them insight into how to create momentum and identify and fruitfully address windows of opportunity for a sustainability transition. It shows the potential and limits of the MLP for research on HE and outlines prospects for future research.

Losing the uphill battle? Emergent harm reduction interventions and barriers during the opioid overdose crisis in Canada

Canada continues to experience an escalating opioid overdose crisis that has claimed more than 8000 lives in the country since 2016. The presence of the synthetic opioid fentanyl and its analogues is a central contributor to the increases in preventable opioid-related deaths. However, a number of converging social-structural factors (e.g., the continued criminalisation of drug use, political changes) and political barriers are also complicating and contributing to the current crisis. We briefly outline four harm reduction interventions (i.e., injectable opioid agonist treatment, naloxone distribution programs, overdose prevention sites, and drug checking services) as emerging and rapidly expanding responses to this crisis in Canada. These examples of innovation and expansion are encouraging but also occurring at the same time that the opioid overdose crisis shows few signs of abating. To truly address the crisis, Canada needs political environments at all government levels that are responsive and foster harm reduction innovation and drug policy experimentation.

Echoes of Those Now Silent

This article examines the “great transformation” of Canadian women's self-understanding and identity in the period from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century. It argues that women's individual and collective energy was canalized through the creation of voluntary associations and social movements. It also explores a select few of the persons and innovative pedagogical projects and experiments in communicative action. Civil society expands significantly to accommodate women's needs, demands and dreams.

Work-related information needed by farmers for changing to sustainable cropping practices

Farmers are being urged to change their practices in order to reduce agricultural pollution. These changes may affect working times and organization, and farmers often mention this to explain the difficulties they have in adopting a new practice. But little is known about the work-related changes (e.g., working time, organization, skills) engendered by a change of farming practice, or about the information that farmers need for deciding on and implementing a new practice. In order to design tools to help farmers when adopting more agroecological practices, the objective of this paper is to identify what work-related information is useful to them for changing their practices. We interviewed 16 farmers in France and we then characterized the types of work-related information they had applied. We focused both on changes that were systemic (reducing tillage or diversifying crops) or less systemic (low-volume spraying or mechanical weeding). We performed a qualitative analysis with an iterative method, alternating between gathering data from the farmers and theorizing about what happens on the work front. We then performed a quantitative analysis of the results, based on chi-squared tests, to identify which factors influence farmers’ work-related information needs. Our findings showed, for the first time, that farmers apply a wide range of information about work changes, concerning performance of new operations, resources used, work organization and competition between activities, and the arduous or rewarding nature of farm work. We showed that the types of information needed change during the process of introducing a new practice. In the first phase, farmers gather mainly generic information about the focal operation and the resources required. In the next phase, they run innovation experiments, producing their own information on how their work is changing and how to reorganize it. Based on these results, we suggest some paths for designing support tools.

Exhibiting Moments: Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual at the Mathers Museum of World Cultures

In 1973, Indiana University’s Mathers Museum of World Cultures purchased a selection of works from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, one of the oldest Native American-owned art and craft cooperatives in the United States. In this paper, I discuss, from my perspective as co-curator, the development of the museum’s 2015 exhibition of that collection, Cherokee Craft, 1973. Through this project, the curatorial team sought to creatively evoke the Qualla cooperative at the dynamic historical moment these works represented, while also contending with significant resource limitations. What resulted was an exhibit organized around the concept of a moment in time. This alternative presentation strategy gave us an opportunity to explore a variety of important topics and ongoing processes specific to the institution in the early 1970s. In this paper, I discuss how this approach allowed us to present a plurality of voices, while also showcasing many of the cooperative’s most renowned makers. I also position Cherokee Craft, 1973 as an exhibit curated by graduate students for a university audience: it was a site of innovation and representational experimentation for its creators, unique to its institutional type and its own particular moment in time.

AN EXPERIMENT ON INNOVATION AND COLLUSION

This paper examines the relationship between product innovation and the success of price collusion using novel laboratory experiments. Average market prices in low innovation (LO) experiments are significantly higher than those in high innovation, but otherwise identical experiments. This price difference is attributed to LO experimental subjects' greater common market experience. The data illustrate how collusion can be perceived as the “only way to make it” in LO markets where product innovation is not a viable strategy for increasing profits. They suggest that product homogeneity can be a proximate cause, and product innovation an ultimate cause, of collusion. (JEL L41, L10, C92)

Björn Lindahl.

Björn Lindahl.

The 2017–18 design and construction of ice composite structures in Harbin

This paper will focus on the design and construction of two large thin shell structures with ice composites in the winter of 2017–18: the Flamenco Ice Tower and THRICE. Both structures were unique with regard to the application of ice composites. In this paper there will be a special focus on the structural behavior of the fiber-reinforced ice shell and membrane moulding. The ice composite had limited structural capacity and the material was pushed to its limits. Ice can be reinforced by adding (cellulose) fibers such as wood and paper. These fibers make the ice up to three times stronger and increase the ductility, thus creating a reliable building material. This sustainable, fully recyclable building material might be a solution for temporary constructions in cold areas, ice events, the Olympic Winter Games or possibly even Mars missions. HIT in cooperation with IASS Workgroup 21 invited several universities to design and construct architectural ice structures. In this paper the two most interesting structures that have been realized will be described. The technique used might also be interesting for architectural shell structures in other materials such as concrete and polymer composites. The Flamenco Ice Tower was the world record for the largest thin shell structure in ice and achieved the WA design award for most innovative architectural experiment in China.

Visualizing Light Rays Using Fluorescence

We present a simple and effective experimental setup to help students visualize light rays in optics experiments. When illuminated by a blue-violet laser pointer (typical wavelength [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]nm), tonic water and phosphorescent paper show fluorescence which allows the laser beam to be clearly seen by a large audience under normal ambient lighting. The setup is particularly useful for conducting classroom demonstrations on the reflection, refraction and diffraction of light. Quantitative measurement is also possible, e.g. students can attach a transparent scale to the phosphorescent paper or container holding the tonic water, and perform a quick verification of Snell’s law and the diffraction formula [Formula: see text]. The appeal of the visualization of light beams in multiple total internal reflections and retroreflection could help teachers introduce technological applications such as optical fibers and retroreflectors in road signs. A simple but interesting experiment of scattering laser light to form a light cone in a medium is shown using the fluorescence method. Redoing or modifying other innovative optics experiments using the fluorescence method is also discussed.