Category Archives: Research Examples

Technology overview of biogas production in anaerobic digestion plants: A European evaluation of research and development

Research Examples, Research profiling, Research Type

Anaerobic digestion (AD) technology is used commercially around the world, especially in Europe, which has set some challenging targets to diversify its energy mix with more renewable energy. This study intends to demonstrate, through technology prospecting, the relation between academic research (published articles) and technology development (patent applications) evolved from 1990 to 2015. Published articles were classified under the topics and wastes they cover, which include manure, agricultural and food waste, wastewater, sewage sludge and the organic fraction of municipal solid waste, with the last of these often being associated with co-digestion processes. Meanwhile, the patents in the area are mostly for equipment of the AD process and new methods or means of purifying the biogas obtained. It was found that the patents filed in Europe tend to protect their innovations only occasionally in countries outside the EU. Germany is the clear leader in all the areas of research and the commercial applications of the technologies, followed by Italy, Spain and Sweden. This study also demonstrates the immense potential of biogas throughout Europe, not just for energy generation, but also as a fuel and a by-product of the treatment of different kinds of waste.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032117307074

Author(s): Rafaela Lora Grando, Adelaide Maria de Souza Antune, Fabiana Valéria Fonseca, Antoni Sánchez, Raquel Barrena, Xavier Font
Organization(s): Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Source: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
Year: 2017

A bibliometric review of nitrogen research in eutrophic lakes and reservoirs

Research Examples, Research profiling, ST&I policy

The global application of nitrogen is far greater than phosphorus, and it is widely involved in the eutrophication of lakes and reservoirs. We used a bibliometric method to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate nitrogen research in eutrophic lakes and reservoirs to reveal research developments, current research hotspots and emerging trends in this area. A total of 2695 articles in the past 25 years from the online database of the Scientific Citation Index Expended (SCI-Expanded) were analyzed for publication output, authors, institutions, countries, journals and keywords. Articles in this area increased exponentially from 1991 to 2015. Although the USA was the most productive country over the past 25 years, China achieved the top position in terms of yearly publications after 2010. The most active keywords related to nitrogen in the past 25 years included phosphorus, nutrients, sediment, chlorophyll-a, carbon, phytoplankton, cyanobacteria, water quality, modeling, and stable isotopes, based on analysis within 5-year intervals from 1991 to 2015 as well as the entire past 25 years. In addition, researchers have drawn increasing attention to denitrification, climate change, and internal loading. Future trends in this area should focus on: (1) nutrient amounts, ratios, and major nitrogen sources leading to eutrophication; (2) nitrogen transformation and the bioavailability of different nitrogen forms; (3) nitrogen budget, mass balance model, control, and management; (4) ecosystem responses to nitrogen enrichment and reduction, as well as the relationships between these responses; and (5) interactions between nitrogen and other stressors (e.g., light intensity, carbon, phosphorus, toxic contaminants, climate change, and hydrological variations) in terms of eutrophication.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1001074217312718

Author(s): Xiaolong Yao, Yunlin Zhang, Lu Zhang, Yongqiang Zhou
Organization(s): Chinese Academy of Sciences
Source: Journal of Environmental Sciences
Year: 2017

Research development, current hotspots, and future directions of water research based on MODIS images: a critical review with a bibliometric analysis

Research Examples, Research profiling, ST&I policy

Water is essential for life as it provides drinking water and food for humans and animals. Additionally, the water environment provides habitats for numerous species and plays an important role in hydrological, nutrient, and carbon cycles. Among the existing natural resources on Earth’s surface, water is the most extensive as it covers more than 70% of the Earth. To gather a comprehensive understanding of the focus of past, present, and future directions of remote sensing water research, we provide an alternative perspective on water research using moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery by conducting a comparative quantitative and qualitative analysis of research development, current hotspots, and future directions using a bibliometric analysis. Our study suggests that there has been a rapid growth in the scientific outputs of water research using MODIS imagery over the past 15 years compared to other popular satellites around the world. The analysis indicated that Remote Sensing of Environment was the most active journal, and “remote sensing,” “imaging science photographic technology,” “environmental sciences ecology,” “meteorology atmospheric sciences,” and “geology” are the top 5 most popular subject categories. The Chinese Academy of Sciences was the most productive institution with a total of 477 papers, and Hu CM (Chinese) was the most productive author with 76 papers. A keyword analysis indicated that “vegetation index,” “evapotranspiration,” and “phytoplankton” were the most active research topics throughout the study period. In addition, it is predicted that more attention will be paid to research on climate change and phenology in the future. Based on the keyword analysis and in consideration of current environmental problems, more studies should focus on the following three aspects: (1) develop methods suitable for data assimilation to fully explain climate or phenological phenomena at continental or global scales rather than at local scales; (2) accurately predict the effect of global change and human activities on evapotranspiration and the water cycle; and (3) determine the evolutionary process of the water environment (i.e., water quality, macrophytes, cyanobacteria, etc.), ascertaining its dominant factors and driving mechanisms. By focusing on these three aspects, researchers will be able to provide timely monitoring and evaluation of water quality and its response to global change and human activities.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-017-9107-1

Author(s): Yibo Zhang, Yunlin Zhang, Kun Shi, Xiaolong Yao
Organization(s): Chinese Academy of Sciences
Source: Environmental Science and Pollution Research
Year: 2017

Assessing technological developments in amorphous/glassy metallic alloys using patent indicators

Patents, Research Examples, Research profiling, Strategic planning

Alloys with an amorphous structure represent a class of advanced metallic materials which have great potential for industrial applications and technological innovations as a consequence of their interesting chemical, mechanical and magnetic properties. Considerable effort has been devoted to investigating scientific issues concerning these alloys, but less attention has been paid to assessing the impact of this accumulated knowledge regarding the development of new materials, products and processes. In this study, we evaluated the technological developments in metallic glass using patent indicators. Patent documents are a valuable source of information as they reflect R&D activities and market issues. Data and text mining processing were carried out in order to extract useful indicators from bibliographic records of patent documents indexed in the worldwide Derwent Innovations Index database. The results evaluated the technological advances and showed the life-cycle stage of developments and the interests of companies, research institutions and countries. This study mapped the main alloys and manufacturing processes that have been patented. Amorphous metallic alloys have become ever increasingly important for technological developments regarding metallic alloys in general, and the indicators developed in this study can be used as a source to support decision making in funding new projects and in R&D management.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925838817316973

Author(s): Douglas H. Milanez, Leandro I.L. Faria, Daniel R. Leiva, Claudio S. Kiminami, Walter J. Botta
Organization(s): Federal University of São Carlos
Source: Journal of Alloys and Compounds
Year: 2017

Extending Canvas of Manufacturing Strategy: 8Ps Model

Research Examples, Research Type, Strategic planning

The purpose of this paper is to explore an extension to the classic 6Ps framework of Manufacturing Strategy (MS) suggested by Leong and Ward (1996). We utilize text mining of Leong and Ward’s citations and propose an extension to 8Ps of MS by incorporating the missing context dimension of strategy. The proposed 8Ps model of MS completes the triad of content, context and process dimensions of a strategy, enables the practitioner to visualize and formulate MS in a structured way towards enhancing firm’s competitiveness.

http://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:ijgbc&volume=11&issue=1&article=002

Author(s): Kulkarni Sourabh, Verma Priyanka, Mukundan R
Organization(s): National Institute of Industrial Engineering
Source: International Journal of Global Business and Competitiveness
Year: 2017

An approach for modelling and forecasting research activity related to an emerging technology

Future-oriented technology analysis, Research Examples

The understanding of emerging technologies and the analysis of their development pose a great challenge for decision makers, as being able to assess and forecast technological change enables them to make the most of it. There is a whole field of research focused on this area, called technology forecasting, in which bibliometrics plays an important role. Within that framework, this paper presents a forecasting approach focused on a specific field of technology forecasting: research activity related to an emerging technology. This approach is based on four research fields—bibliometrics, text mining, time series modelling and time series forecasting—and is structured in five interlinked steps that generate a continuous flow of information. The main milestone is the generation of time series that measure the level of research activity and can be used for forecasting. The usefulness of this approach is shown by applying it to an emerging technology: cloud computing. The results enable the technology to be structured into five main sub-technologies which are characterised through five time series. Time series analysis of the trends related to each sub-technology shows that Privacy and Security has been the most active sub-technology to date in this area and is expected to maintain its level of interest in the near future.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-017-2381-3

Author(s): Iñaki Bildosola, Pilar Gonzalez, Paz Moral
Organization(s): University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)
Source: Scientometrics
Year: 2017

A hybrid similarity measure method for patent portfolio analysis

Data Type, Patents, Research Examples, ST&I indicators

Similarity measures are fundamental tools for identifying relationships within or across patent portfolios. Many bibliometric indicators are used to determine similarity measures; for example, bibliographic coupling, citation and co-citation, and co-word distribution. This paper aims to construct a hybrid similarity measure method based on multiple indicators to analyze patent portfolios. Two models are proposed: categorical similarity and semantic similarity. The categorical similarity model emphasizes international patent classifications (IPCs), while the semantic similarity model emphasizes textual elements. We introduce fuzzy set routines to translate the rough technical (sub-) categories of IPCs into defined numeric values, and we calculate the categorical similarities between patent portfolios using membership grade vectors. In parallel, we identify and highlight core terms in a 3-level tree structure and compute the semantic similarities by comparing the tree-based structures. A weighting model is designed to consider: 1) the bias that exists between the categorical and semantic similarities, and 2) the weighting or integrating strategy for a hybrid method. A case study to measure the technological similarities between selected firms in China’s medical device industry is used to demonstrate the reliability our method, and the results indicate the practical meaning of our method in a broad range of informetric applications.

Highlights

  • An application that introduces fuzzy sets to transform IPCs to numeric values.
  • A 3-level tree structure that arranges terms hierarchically for similarity measure.
  • A study that applies similarity measure for technology mergers and acquisitions.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751157715302169

Author(s): Yi Zhang, Lining Shang, Lu Huang, Alan L. Porter, Guangquan Zhang, Jie Lu, Donghua Zhu
Organization(s): University of Technology Sydney, Beijing Institute of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology
Source: Journal of Informetrics
Year: 2016

A Systematic Method for Technology Assessment: Illustrated for Big Data Analytics (full-text)

Future-oriented technology analysis, Research Examples, Research Type

Historically, Technology Assessment (TA) refers to studying the societal effects of the development and application of a technology. A key challenge for modern TA is to assess emerging technology fields as they are emerging – this is crucial for producing actionable strategic intelligence for use in decision-making.  To contribute to addressing this challenge, the aim of this research is to advance methods to generate effective technology assessment intelligence, and to showcase the approach with an application to the rapidly evolving field of “Big Data.”  The key contributions of this paper are twofold: 1) Methodological: To advance the Forecasting Innovation Pathway (FIP) methodology to identify potential impacts of an emerging technology, and to gauge their likelihood and magnitude of importance for further study; 2) Substantive: To estimate the likelihood and importance of potential impacts of big data analytics (BDA) more broadly, and to help inform U.S. policy considerations in particular.

Full-text of presentation

 

Author(s): Ying Guo, Jianhua Liu, Alan L. Porter
Organization(s): Beijing Institute of Technology, Chinese Academy of Science, Georgia Institute of Technology
Source: Annual Conference on Big Data and Business Analytics (Shanghai, China)
Year: 2017

Organizational Factors for Development of Sectoral Science, Technology and Innovation System: Venezuelan Experience in Biotechnology (full-text)

Research Examples, Research profiling, ST&I policy

Biotechnology is a millenary science, however, was in the last 60 years which reached its
“peak/top” with the advances in the techniques for manipulating living beings. About your multidisciplinary nature, in the countries where it was considered a strategic element for technological innovation, many systems of organization have been developed for their own development. In order to analyze preliminary organizational factors of developing a National Innovation System for Biotechnology in Venezuela, we conducted this study
using interviews and electronic questionnaires with different actors in the system of R&D: universities researchers, funding agencies, representatives of government and companies. This paper suggests some strength such as Venezuelan tradition in Biotechnology and high level of human capital qualification. Biotechnology in Venezuela was mainly developed in public research institutions such as universities and government centers, with two priority areas: agriculture and life science. However, there is a long way forward before Biotechnology is incorporated in the desired economic and social development, such as: the development of mechanisms for continued government funding and venture capital to create start-ups enterprises, strengthening strategies links between universities and companies and networking, and the development of a specific legislation for Biotechnology.

For full-text, https://www.arca.fiocruz.br/bitstream/icict/18172/3/MarcioOliveira_IJMSR_2017_v5n2.pdf

Author(s): Maria de Fátima Ebole Santana, Marcio Sacramento de Oliveira, Rosalba Gómez Martínez, Ângela Maria G. Martino, Nei Pereira Jr., Adelaide Maria de Souza
Antunes
Organization(s): Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Polytechnic School of Health Joaquim Venancio, National Experimental University of Francisco de Miranda
Source: International Journal of Managerial Studies and Research
Year: 2017

Forecasting potential sensor applications of triboelectric nanogenerators through tech mining

Research Examples, Research profiling, Strategic planning

The Triboelectric Nanogenerator (TENG), invented in 2012, is an emerging energy harvesting technology that efficiently converts ambient mechanical energy into electricity. Much work has been done to develop this device and improve its performance. However, no systematic report about its applications through large-scale publication and patent data analysis is available. In this study, we use “Tech Mining,” a systematic analytical method based on structured texts applied to publication and patent abstract data, to analyze potential applications of TENGs. A series of applications from product scale to industry scale are identified. The findings show that when used as sensors, TENGs are mostly applicable in automation and energy-intensive industries such as automotive, medical or surgical devices, consumer electronics and household appliances. TENGs in the form of sensors can also be integrated with future-oriented and exponentially growing technologies such as robotics, drones, nanotechnology, and bioinformatics that will create enormous value for future economies. Moreover, applications of TENGs as sensors are also in line with current global trends of science and technology development, including the “Internet of Things,” big data, clean energy, and smart cities. Combined with those technologies and industries, TENGs can help in tackling challenges of global warming, environmental pollution and security systems. We suggest the TENG research community to widen interdisciplinary collaboration, pursue connections with industry, and file more patents as R&D progresses. In addition, research limitations and future development directions of TENG are pointed out.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211285517302069

Author(s): Haoshu Peng, Xudong Fang, Samira Ranaei, Zhen Wen, Alan L. Porter
Organization(s): Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Soochow University
Source: Scientometrics
Year: 2017