Private Research Institutions Research Articles

The White House Initiative on Women's Health Research: A Presidential Boost.

Women's Health Research, barely 40-year-old in the United States has recently received an all-important boost from First Lady Jill Biden. The $100 million in question are bound to make a meaningful difference in this all-important arena. It was the view of the White House that "our nation must fundamentally change how we approach and fund women's health research." The White House expressed its hope that "congressional leaders, the private sector, research institutions, and philanthropy" will answer the call to "improve the health and lives of women throughout the nation."

The Development of Agrotechnopark Model Based on Modern Villages

Agrotechnopark is an area for implementing various types of technology in agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, and product processing (postharvest), which has been reviewed by multiple governments and private research institutions and functions as a training ground and center for technology transfer to the broader community. Implementing the Agricultural Technology Park (TTP) uses socio-cultural, ecological, and economic approaches. A comprehensive understanding of community needs will be obtained through a socio-cultural system, which will become input for the company. At the same time, the environmental system will identify the potential basis of local resource excellence as a reference for community development activities. Furthermore, the economic approach is developing productive business units to increase people's income while paying attention to market demand. South Konawe Regency is one of the autonomous regions in Southeast Sulawesi, which is supported by its potential resources. The position of the South Konawe Regency area is very strategic, a southern cross-section of the Southeast Sulawesi peninsula that connects several Regencies/Cities in Southeast Sulawesi with prototypes of coastal and inland villages. One is Atari Jaya Village because it has a heterogeneous population composition, and most of the Javanese Transmigration community is reasonably competent in agricultural development. Because of this, socio-culturally and economically, this village grows and develops and is dynamic by carrying out the diffusion of technology in various fields supporting Agrotechnopark, such as the development of Integrated Farming (Multiple cropping) and integrated farming (Mixed culture) of plantation crops and plantations. Atari Jaya Village is also a central area for the development of Agropolitan both food crops, as well as plantation and horticultural crops on a national scale and a People's Plantation Centre worthy of being an Agricultural Technology Park Area (Agro et al.) in South Konawe Regency, Southeast Sulawesi Province. Development of the Agricultural Technology Park Area (TTP) to become a center for Agribusiness and Agro-fruit tourism as a basic framework for community and regional economic growth towards Konsel Hebat Regency. Atari Jaya Village was realized as an independent village, a pilot Agrotechnopark village in South Konawe Regency, and a service center for upstream and downstream Agribusiness trade in Agrofruit and plantations.

Pennycress domestication and improvement efforts

AbstractPennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) is a winter annual weed species that is distributed globally in temperate regions. The possibility of pennycress inclusion in the corn–soybean cropping system in the midwestern United States has garnered increasing attention from farmers. Growing pennycress offers environmental benefits—reducing soil erosion and nitrate leaching, improving water quality, early‐season pollinator food, and economic benefits—higher seed oil percentage, increased net profit, crop diversification, and biodiesel/renewable jet fuel production. The prospect of pennycress as a cover/oilseed cash crop in the United States is supported by several private and public research institutions. Here, we have discussed the rise of pennycress as a breakthrough oilseed crop in the last decade and explored recent developments in pennycress genetics and genomics research, which could pave the way for pennycress improvement and sustainable pennycress inclusion in the midwestern United States.

The role of Horizon (2020) in achieving climate-neutral urban objectives: A study of 14 Spanish cities innovation networks

This study aims to analyse the structure and characteristics of innovation networks from Horizon (2020) projects in fourteen Spanish cities, and to understand how these networks influence a city's success in being selected for the European Mission on Climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030. Utilizing social network analysis, the research uncovers patterns within these urban innovation networks, emphasizing attributes that advance climate neutrality efforts. Results indicate that cities with larger and more interconnected innovation networks, exhibiting balanced participation from diverse stakeholders, and predominantly led by the private sector and research institutions, are more likely to be successfully chosen for the Cities European Mission. This research provides a novel insight into the role of urban innovation systems in the journey towards decarbonization, accentuating the significant influence of European institutional structures in moulding these networks. By focusing on urban networks as a metric for assessing the progress towards climate neutrality, this study offers a fresh perspective that diverges from traditional regional or transnational analyses. The findings have substantial implications for policymakers and urban planners, underscoring the need for fostering robust innovation networks as a strategy to achieve climate neutrality. Additionally, the results pave the way for future research on optimizing resource allocation within urban innovation systems, ultimately contributing to the broader objectives of the European Green Deal.

Environmental impacts and sustainable development: results from public awareness and attitudes’ study in Georgia

In democratic countries, how sustainable the country’s development path will be, depends to a significant extent on the awareness and attitudes of the society. Within the framework of this project, it was possible to study the importance of environmental impacts within sustainable development in general and specifically for Georgia. In addition to the comprehensive literature review, online public survey was conducted within the project, in-depth interviews with various representatives of Georgian society (public organizations, business and private sector, research and academic institutions) were held together with a focus group with students. Results show that, in parallel with the sustainable development agenda, environmental field is important for the country as a whole, as well as for some part of the society, different stakeholders and organizations in Georgia. However, general public still prioritizes social and economic issues over environmental ones in the country. Hence, in order to make this area become more prioritized and the subject of evidence-based analysis in the future, more awareness raising and academic development of this field will be crucial.

Women in Pandemics and Sustainability of African Rural Communities

Covid-19 pandemic mitigation measures in the global South, particularly African developing countries like Nigeria were inadequate to alleviate socioeconomic effects of the pandemic on the livelihood and survival of rural communities. Rural women dominate the informal sector and have been active in agriculture, food security, health, nutrition, home management, traditional elderly care, and micro and small-scale enterprises. Whilst the effects of the pandemic on Nigerian rural women have been measured, the contribution of rural women to the sustainability of agrarian rural communities in the country have not been studied. This paper explored the role of women in supporting their families and communities for the sustainability of rural communities and challenges they faced as they serve as buffers for the survival of their families and sustenance of livelihood in rural communities during the pandemic. The paper adopted qualitative phenomenological research design. A sample of 30 rural women were drawn from Gbara Village, an agrarian rural community in Sagamu Local Government, Ogun State, Nigeria through convenience sampling and purposive sampling techniques. Semi-structured Interviews, focus group meetings, and documents were used as data sources and descriptive analysis was used to analyses the demographic characteristics of the respondents. The qualitative results were analyzed through content analysis and eight themes emerged. There were responses on contributions of rural women to the sustainability of Gbara Village during the pandemic in agriculture and food security value chain, health and nutrition, home management, traditional elderly care, and rural entrepreneurship. The paper also found that rural women were confronted with socio-economic challenges of gender inequalities, illiteracy, and limited access to technology to enhance their role as change agents in rural communities during the pandemic. The study suggested that the government, organized private sector, development agencies, non-governmental organizations, research institutions, and civil society organizations should priorities and fast-track the attainment of gender equality and women education to empower rural women and increase their capacity for socio-economic transformation of rural communities in Nigeria.

African institutions will lead on the road to end neglected tropical diseases

Globally, more than one billion people suffer from one or more neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). These diseases create enormous suffering, rob individuals of social and economic opportunities, and set-back countries’ development efforts. It is now clear that transmission and elimination of many NTDs is attainable in our lifetime. The elimination of NTDs will not happen without a concerted effort and plan to ensure that the most affected countries have a robust clinical, public health, laboratory, pharmaceutical, and research capacity to ensure that the last mile towards reaching elimination is not only reached, but sustained. This means increasing strategic investments to develop and strengthen the NTD health workforce, develop and integrate innovative diagnostic approaches, effective treatments, and responsive surveillance systems. Equally important is ensuring that people living with lifelong disabilities resulting from NTDs receive the care and support they need to live healthy, productive, and fulfilling lives. African-based national non-governmental organizations, the private sector, research institutions, and governments play a vital role as they work to attain ambitious NTD elimination and control goals put forward by the global health community. The recent elimination of onchocerciasis in Niger, trachoma in Burundi and Malawi as well as ongoing progress to eliminate lymphatic filiariasis in Kenya and other sub-Saharan Africa countries demonstrate the capacity of African leadership in NTD control and elimination efforts.

Digital Communication, Health and Intersection

The form of communication between public health agencies and society has changed with digitalization. Health is one of the most sought after subjects, published and disseminated on the Internet. In these virtual spaces it is possible to find information disseminated by public and private educational and research institutions, governmental and non-governmental agencies, patient and professional entities, and users themselves

Engaging More Women in Academic Innovation: Findings and Recommendations

Diversity is a key driver of innovation and a critical component of success on a global scale. Countries that deploy strategies to foster greater inclusion of all inventors in the innovation lifecycle will ultimately be best positioned to maximize their gross domestic product and ensure economic prosperity. The U.S. is losing ground because it is not fully engaging a significant portion of the inventive talent pool. According to a 2019 report from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the share of women among all U.S. inventor-patentees is only 12.8%.<br/> In an effort to understand factors that encouraged and discouraged academic women's participation in technology commercialization, a group of technology transfer professionals conducted a survey of academic women involved in innovation, invention and/or entrepreneurship. The 168 respondents were from public and private research institutions of varying sizes from all regions of the U.S. This paper outlines the key findings from the qualitative and quantitative data around the themes that emerged. It also puts forth a set of recommendations based on the survey feedback, follow-up interviews, and the collective experience of technology transfer professionals who work daily with academic innovators. It is our hope that these recommendations will provide valuable insights into concrete actions that can be taken to ensure systemic changes that foster greater engagement of academic women and other under-represented populations in all stages of the innovation lifecycle.

Prospective analysis of the role of actors in governing mangrove ecosystem area in Tangerang District, Indonesia

Abstract. Mahardika SMAH, Yulianda F, Adrianto L, Sulistiono. 2022. Prospective analysis of the role of actors in governing mangrove ecosystem area in Tangerang District, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 23: 4940-4947. The role of actors in the governance of mangrove ecosystems is one of the main factors in determining the sustainability of mangrove ecosystem management in the Tangerang District, Banten, Indonesia. The research aims to analyze actors' prospective role in the strategy of governance of mangrove ecosystems areas in Tangerang using the MACTOR method. This research is a descriptive case study with an expert judgment approach. The study results show that the central and local governments have an important role in the governance strategy of mangrove ecosystem areas in the Tangerang. The two actors can collaborate with the local community, the private sector, universities, NGOs, research institutions, and high schools. The strategy for the governance of mangrove ecosystems in Tangerang can be done by increasing the role of each actor by encouraging the central government and local governments to implement programs to achieve the most supportive strategic goals, namely the management of mangrove ecosystems based on collaborative management (co-management). The strategy can be easily implemented and get more optimal results by involving the role of the user community, NGOs, universities, local governments, and research institutions where the level of collaboration (convergence) is high to support the strategy.

Effects of tirzepatide versus insulin glargine on kidney outcomes in type 2 diabetes in the SURPASS-4 trial: post-hoc analysis of an open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial

In the SURPASS-4 trial, the dual GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist tirzepatide reduced HbA_1c concentrations, bodyweight, and blood pressure more than titrated daily insulin glargine in people with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled on oral diabetes treatments and with high cardiovascular risk. We aimed to compare the effects of tirzepatide and insulin glargine on kidney parameters and outcomes in people with type 2 diabetes. We did a post-hoc analysis of data from SURPASS-4, a randomised, open-label, parallel-group, phase 3 study at 187 sites (including private practice, research institutes, and hospitals) in 14 countries. Eligible participants were adults (age ≥18 years), with type 2 diabetes treated with any combination of metformin, sulfonylurea, or SGLT2 inhibitor, and with baseline HbA_1c of 7·5-10·5% (58-91 mmol/mol), BMI of 25 kg/m² or greater, and established cardiovascular disease or a high risk of cardiovascular events. Randomisation via an interactive web-response system was 1:1:1:3 to a once-weekly subcutaneous injection of tirzepatide (5 mg, 10 mg, or 15 mg) or a once-daily subcutaneous injection of titrated insulin glargine (100 U/mL). The study included up to 104 weeks of treatment, with a median treatment duration of 85 weeks. We compared the rates of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline and the urine albumin-creatinine ratio (UACR) between the combined tirzepatide groups and the insulin glargine group in the modified intention-to-treat population. The kidney composite outcome was time to first occurrence of eGFR decline of at least 40% from baseline, end-stage kidney disease, death owing to kidney failure, or new-onset macroalbuminuria. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03730662. Between Nov 20, 2018, and Dec 30, 2019, we screened 3045 people, of whom 1043 (34%) were ineligible, and 2002 (66%) were randomly assigned to a study drug (997 to tirzepatide and 1005 to insulin glargine). 1995 (>99%) of 2002 received at least one dose of tirzepatide (n=995) or insulin glargine (n=1000). At baseline, participants had a mean eGFR of 81·3 (SD 21·11) mL/min per 1·73 m² and a median UACR of 15·0 mg/g (IQR 5·0-55·8). The mean rate of eGFR decline was -1·4 (SE 0·2) mL/min per 1·73 m² per year in the combined tirzepatide groups and -3·6 (0·2) mL/min per 1·73 m² per year in the insulin group (between-group difference 2·2 [95% CI 1·6 to 2·8]). Compared with insulin glargine, the reduction in the annual rate of eGFR decline induced by tirzepatide was more pronounced in participants with eGFR less than 60 mL/min per 1·73 m² than in those with eGFR 60 mL/min per 1·73 m² or higher (between-group difference 3·7 [95% CI 2·4 to 5·1]). UACR increased from baseline to follow-up with insulin glargine (36·9% [95% CI 26·0 to 48·7]) but not with tirzepatide (-6·8% [-14·1 to 1·1]; between-group difference -31·9% [-37·7 to -25·7]). Participants who received tirzepatide showed a significantly lower occurrence of the composite kidney endpoint compared with those who received insulin glargine (hazard ratio 0·58 [95% CI 0·43 to 0·80]). Our analysis suggests that in people with type 2 diabetes and high cardiovascular risk, tirzepatide slowed the rate of eGFR decline and reduced UACR in clinically meaningful ways compared with insulin glargine. Eli Lilly and Company.

The status of aerial photogrammetry in South Africa: a transition to digital imagery system

The digital image camera technology has revolutionized the aerial imagery capture throughout the world. It has provided high spatial and spectral resolution together with superior efficiency and reliability compared to the traditional analogue aerial imagery method. In so doing, this has provided great accuracy in various photogrammetric applications. The South African survey and mapping organisation currently known as Chief Directorate: National Geospatial Information (CD: NGI) has been capturing aerial photography dating back as early as the 1930s. However, from 2008 CD: NGI embraced a transition to digital aerial imagery capture at 50cm Ground Sample Distance (GSD) (from 2008 to 2016) and 25cm GSD (as from 2017 till date). This has resulted to 1370 digital aerial imagery already captured (this number will continue to change as there are jobs that are still being flown which are yet to be recorded). The continuous enhancement of digital camera technology opens for more possibilities of national aerial imagery capture at even greater spatial resolution such as 10cm GSD in the foreseeable future.However, the continuous digital imagery capture has not been without challenges such as the current global Covid-19 pandemic which has resulted in budget reprioritization, the organisation’s technical knowledge transfer from one generation to another together with the determination of the CD: NGI requirement for digital imagery specifications. The organisation values stakeholders’ engagement to ensure relevance, completeness and consistency on the data produced. This is possible through collaboration and partnership between State institutions, the private sector, research, and tertiary institutions through sharing of resources.

Development of prototype fritting furnace for small scale pottery producers in Nigeria

Frit is an essential material required in the composition of low temperature glazes. Unfortunately, up till the year 2020 appropriate furnace for local production of frit is scarce in Nigeria. This may be due to the prohibitive prices of customary refractory materials, exorbitant cost for construction of a standard frit furnace, and the epileptic power supply to run a frit producing plant. Consequently, previous attempts to produce frit locally ended up in losses and products froth with impurities. In this work, the continuous-flow frit kiln with a sloping floor design was modified and a prototype was constructed using locally sourced refractory. The working section was lined with highly corrosion resistance monolith produced with a ramming mass composed of zircon and kaolinite. It has a volume of 10.62 litre. The furnace runs on butane gas, it is fed with pre-treated precursor in granules form and capable of continuous production of 30 kg of frit per hour (kg/h) at 1100 oC. With the appropriate burner, the furnace achieved the optimum operation temperature of 1100oC within two hours. The design is suitable for private studio, research and educational institutions. It can also be scaled up for industrial uses.

Collaborative climate futures? Envisioning the role of open data infrastructures for collaborative socio-environmental research

Environmental research has been at the forefront of the debate concerning the present and the future of planetary health. As the question of climate change and crisis looms large and the struggles around environmental injustice become more visible, both private and public climate research funders and institutions are emphasizing the urgent need for knowledge cross-pollination and co-production. This is happening not only across technoscientific projects but across communities that are often included as "support personnel," but not bona fide research partners with voice and decision-making power. Geophysical characterizations of climate change are not enough to understand and respond to the challenges that vulnerable communities face worldwide. It is in this context that we seek to articulate a future in which technologists, researchers, and community members have the basic conditions to create common data infrastructures to enable collaborative environmental research. In this article, we discuss the main motivation for creating a stack for socio-environmental research based on the need for infrastructures that can be understood and governed by the communities on whose land climate research is conducted. In the conclusion, we revisit open questions of community stewardship as they relate to pressing challenges of data sovereignty based on open technologies for climate research.

Técnicas de análise de dados e machine learning na análise de vendas de autoveículos no Brasil durante a pandemia da Covid-19

This study aims to analyze the impacts of Covid-19 on vehicle sales in Brazil, correlating these factors with semiconductors imports and economic indicators using Machine Learning models. For this, a collection and preparation of data took place before performing the exploratory analysis, and the developing of predictive models. This work is characterized as an applied and exploratory research, with a quantitative approach. The Python language was used to perform exploratory analysis and to create the models. The data used in this study were collected from multiples sources of private companies, government, associations and research institutes. Three regression algorithms were used: Random Forest, Multi-Layer Perceptron and Multiple Linear Regression. The neural network presented the best results among the applied algorithms, reaching an R² of 82.01% in the test data set. After the exploratory analysis, we also noticed the high impact that semiconductors have on vehicle sales and the drastic effects caused by Covid-19 on the variables used in the study. With the model created, it is possible to predict the sales of vehicles in Brazil in a given month based on some economic indicators, semiconductor imports and the monthly deaths of Covid-19.

The ultimate think tank: The rise of the Santa Fe Institute libertarian

Why do corporations and wealthy philanthropists fund the human sciences? Examining the history of the Santa Fe Institute (SFI), a private research institute founded in the early 1980s, this article shows that funders can find as much value in the social worlds of the sciences they sponsor as in their ideas. SFI became increasingly dependent on funding from corporations and libertarian business leaders in the 1990s and 2000s. At the same time, its intellectual work came to focus on the underlying principles of adaptation, innovation, and decentralized coordination supposedly at work in ‘complex systems’ from biological ecosystems to markets and firms. This research cast the ideas of the libertarian economist Friedrich Hayek into a new scientific idiom. SFI also became a space where figures in business, media, academia, and politics could come to learn to see the world in a particular way—to acquire the subjectivity of what I call ‘the Santa Fe Institute libertarian’. At SFI, visitors did not simply learn the principles of neo-Hayekian complex system science. They came to see themselves as agents of social evolution, providing the spark that the free-market system needed to produce new technologies and new solutions to social problems without top-down political direction. For the Institute's corporate and libertarian financiers, SFI was not just a space where intellectuals described the world in favored ideological terms, but a space where elite actors became committed to the project of making a new political-economic order.

Attitudes Toward Mobile Apps for Pandemic Research Among Smartphone Users in Germany: National Survey.

BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, but also in the context of previous epidemic diseases, mobile apps for smartphones were developed with different goals and functions, such as digital contact tracing, test management, symptom monitoring, quarantine compliance, and epidemiological and public health research.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to explore the potential for the acceptance of research-orientated apps (ROAs) in the German population. To this end, we identified distinctive attitudes toward pandemic apps and data sharing for research purposes among smartphone users in general and with a focus on differences in attitudes between app users and nonusers in particular.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional, national, telephone-based survey of 1003 adults in Germany, of which 924 were useable for statistical analysis. The 17-item survey assessed current usage of pandemic apps, motivations for using or not using pandemic apps, trust in app distributors and attitudes toward data handling (data storage and transmission), willingness to share coded data with researchers using a pandemic app, social attitudes toward app use, and demographic and personal characteristics.ResultsA vast majority stated that they used a smartphone (778/924, 84.2%), but less than half of the smartphone users stated that they used a pandemic app (326/778, 41.9%). The study focused on the subsample of smartphone users. Interestingly, when asked about preferred organizations for data storage and app distribution, trust in governmental (federal or state government, regional health office), public-appointed (statutory health insurance), or government-funded organizations (research institutes) was much higher than in private organizations (private research institutions, clinics, health insurances, information technology [IT] companies). Having a university degree significantly (P<.001) increased the likelihood of using a pandemic app, while having a migration background significantly (P<.001) decreased it. The overwhelming majority (653/778, 83.9%) of smartphone users were willing to provide their app data for state-funded research. Regarding attitudes toward app usage, striking differences between users and nonusers were found. Almost all app users (317/327, 96.9%) stated they would be willing to share data, whereas only 74.3% (336/452) of nonusers supported data sharing via an app. Two-thirds (216/326, 66.3%) of app users fully or rather agreed with the statement that using a pandemic app is a social duty, whereas almost the same proportion of nonusers entirely or rather disagreed with that statement (273/451, 60.5%).ConclusionsThese findings indicate a high potential for the adoption of ROAs among smartphone users in Germany as long as organizational providers engaged in development, operation, and distribution are state-funded or governmental institutions and transparency about data-using research institutions is provided.

Jellyfish study in a private research institution

Jellyfish study in a private research institution

Excellence in Internal Quality Assurance: An Empirical Study in United States

Assessment or internal quality assurance (IQA) processes have often been driven by external stakeholders such as accreditation and governmental agencies of higher education, which are focused on accountability rather than quality improvement. This research examined how private and non-profit Doctoral and Research institutions with less public financial dependence and accountability requirements adopted the Excellence in Assessment (EIA) rubric to improve their IQA models that supports improvement. A survey based on National Institute of Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) EIA rubric was sent to the ASSESS Listserv to learn if there was a difference in EIA scores related to source of funding and Carnegie characteristics. A two-way MANOVA analysis of the survey responses showed that there was no difference in IQA practice followed EIA rubric between source of funding (public and non-profit private institutions) and Carnegie classification (Research and Comprehensive). Recommendations are made regarding the reliability of the EIA rubric. The EIA designation can serve as a framework for U.S. and non-U.S. higher education institutions to benchmark and improve the current IQA processes.

Fostering Czech firms? innovation performance through efficient cooperation

Research background: The business climate development and the stage of innovation systems? transformation are very similar in many Central and Eastern European countries, making it necessary to study these specific economies. These economies are at a different level of transformation, and their governments are trying to support the development of a knowledge-based economy, the creation of innovation systems, and collaboration among different types of entities. These governments need feedback in the form of research into the impacts of public funding on innovation activities through the influence of basic research and cooperation-based resources in individual countries.&#x0D; Purpose of the article: This paper focuses on the examination of (i) the influence of national and European subsidies on innovation performance in manufacturing firms in the Czech Republic and (ii) impacts of knowledge- and cooperation-based resources on innovation activities in Czech manufacturing.&#x0D; Methods: The latest available data from the Community Innovation Survey was used for analyses realized by different regression models. The proposed research models were gradually created to verify the influence of pro-innovation factors (expenditures on in-house and external R&amp;D and on the acquisition of external tangible and intangible sources, cooperation with different partners and innovation) and public (national and/or European) funding of firms? innovation performance within the Czech manufacturing industry.&#x0D; Findings and value added: The results have showed that there is a need to focus on direct and indirect effects of selected innovation determinants; we have also identified the crucial role of cooperation (specifically with government, public, or private research institutes) as a mediating variable within innovation processes. The results have also evidenced that public funding affects the efficiency of knowledge- and cooperation-based resources and amplifies the impact on firms? innovation performance differently. Whereas subsidies from national budgets do not significantly influence the innovation performance of Czech manufacturing firms, European subsidies, on the other hand, significantly increase firms? innovation performance. A long-term contribution of this paper is the significant completion of the theory of policy implications that may be applicable in a broad international context beyond the borders of the Czech Republic. This study significantly contributes to the ongoing discussion about (i) the significance of public financial subsidies from both national and European funds and (ii) the effects of cooperation and R&amp;D on firms? innovation performance within ?catching-up? in Central and Eastern Europe.