This thesis reports on two aspects of interpersonal meaning in peer reviewer reports for eleven researchers in the Animal and Veterinary Sciences awarded NRF ratings in A1, B1, C1 and Y1 rating categories. These aspects are the evaluation of the researcher applying for a rating, and the instruction to the NRF as to the rating the researcher ought to receive. A full APPRAISAL Analysis (Martin & White 2005) complemented by an investigation of politeness strategies (Myers 1989) is used to analyse the reports and show how the various systems of interpersonal meaning co-function and to what effect. The analysis reveals that there are clear differences between the evaluative and instructive language used in the reports. Those for the A1 rated researchers are characterised by only positive evaluations of the applicant, frequently strengthened in terms of Graduation and contracted in terms of Engagement. Overall there is less Engagement and politeness in these reports rendering them more ‘factual’ than the reports for the other rating categories. The A1 rated researcher is therefore construed as being, incontestably, a leader in his/her field of research, worthy of a top rating. The reports for the B1 and C1 rated researchers are characterised by the increasing presence of negative evaluations. In addition, there are more instances of softened/downscaled Graduation, dialogic expansion and deference politeness, showing that there is more perceived contention about the evaluations made. The reports for the Y1 rated researchers (a category for young researchers) focus on the applicant’s demonstrated potential to become a leader in the field. In addition to a high incidence of negative evaluations, downscaled Graduation, dialogic expansion and deference politeness, the Y1 reports are also characterised by a high incidence of advice and suggestions from the reviewers concerning the applicant’s work and standing. At a broader level, the analysis reveals that the language used in the reports has a profound influence on the outcome of the rating process. The reports are crucial, not only for evaluating the applicant but, also, more subtly, in directing the NRF towards a specific rating category. It offers insights into what is valued in the scientific community, what is considered quality research, and what leads to international recognition. The research also adds uniquely to current thinking about the language of science and, more particularly, highlights the nuanced understanding of evaluative and instructive language in the reports that is possible if one draws on the full APPRAISAL framework, and insights into politeness behaviour.

Several studies have been published postulating the emergence of the post-modern research system, the research system in transition and the new production of knowledge (Cozzens et al. 1990, Rip and van der Meulen 1996, Gibbons et al. 1994). However, these studies have been largely concerned with the gradual transformation of well-established research systems of Western industrialised countries. The radical transformations of the research systems of Central and Eastern European countries (CEE), following the collapse of the communist regime at the beginning of the 1990s, have attracted a smaller number of scholars (Balazs et al. 1995; Schimank 1995; Radosevic 1999; Dyker and Radosevic 1999, 2000). Prior to this, the developments in scientific organisation have been considered to be either an issue of evolution (in advanced or industrialised countries) or, as in the case of developing countries - a development issue. However, the research/innovation systems of CEE in the 1990s were neither underdeveloped, nor following the pattern of evolution of other industrialised countries, but were forced to change as a consequence of changes in the political and economic order. Furthermore, eighteen years after the fall of the communist regime, the research systems of CEE have developed at different rates, along different trajectories, despite similar preconditions for change. Taking into account the aforementioned considerations, the study investigates two research systems in transition, those of Latvia and Estonia, which along with the Czech Republic have initiated the most radical reorganisation of their research systems. The choice of countries is based on the realisation that despite, at first glance, similar pre-conditions for change, as well as similar demographic factors, political and economic systems, and institutional structures of scientific organisation (which makes these countries easily comparable); these systems appear to have evolved along different trajectories. Clear differences are seen in terms of total state funding allocated for research, as well as contributions from the private sector, R&D intensity, research output in terms of publication, citation rates and patents, collaborative projects and publications (Kristapsons, Martinson and Dagyte 2003). Based on these indicators, Estonia precedes Latvia on all counts; possible explanations for this are the diversified funding mechanisms available, and the multitude of assessments of research and development on the basis of which policies were formed (Kristapsons, Martinson and Dagyte 2003).In view of the overall goal of explaining different rates/paths of development of similarly positioned national research systems, the purpose of the study is twofold. Firstly, it attempts to paint a comprehensive picture of the Latvian and Estonian research systems and, secondly, it compares and contrasts them in terms of the reforms initiated and the outputs, outcomes and impacts of these reforms. Methodologically, the study is largely qualitative in nature and it has been deemed appropriate to present the two countries as separate case studies, yet retaining a common analytical frame to gather primary and secondary data. Secondary data has been collected by drawing on the multitude of archival and documentary evidence and statistical databases available; primary data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews.

No description available.

With the use of the Internet and the emerging of e-commerce, new and improved technologies and modeling techniques have been used to design and implement web-based database management systems.

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies / See the attached abstract below

Altmetrics is a new bibliometric subfield that uses data from online platforms and social and mainstream media to track attention to and impact of scholarly content. Qualitative research is needed to increase knowledge of altmetrics and of what they may indicate about scholarly publications’ impact and influence. Through analyzing the second-largest source of altmetric events, tweets to academic articles, this thesis extends our understanding of these metrics. Using content analysis and an adapted framework for categorizing acts by levels of engagement, I analyzed 1,200 tweets to four humanities articles, recording their engagement with the articles, sentiment, hashtag use, and @mentions. I also categorized 203 of the tweeting accounts. There is considerable inter-article variation among tweets to the four articles. Overall, however, the tweets evidence low engagement with the articles, the retweet percentage is high, and many of the tweets are traced to few accounts. Contradicting prior suggestions that tweets may be particularly suited to indicating public engagement with scholarly articles, a large proportion of the tweets appear to be from academics. Confirming findings of prior studies, the results indicate that academics use Twitter to filter scholarly literature. I conclude that a single altmetric score is too reductive and of negligible use without deeper qualitative analysis. Unlike some altmetrics indicators that may reveal impact, tweets to articles rather indicate attention, casting doubt on the claim that altmetrics as a whole measure impact. Despite these limitations, tweets to articles and altmetrics more broadly can provide meaningful information not conveyed by citations.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Model-based drug development has become an essential element to potentially make drug development more productive by assessing the data using mathematical and statistical approaches to construct and utilize models to increase the understanding of the drug and disease. The modeling and simulation approach not only quantifies the exposure-response relationship, and the level of variability, but also identifies the potential contributors to the variability. I hypothesized that the modeling and simulation approach can: 1) leverage our understanding of pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) relationship from pre-clinical system to human; 2) quantitatively capture the drug impact on patients; 3) evaluate clinical trial designs; and 4) identify potential contributors to drug toxicity and efficacy. The major findings for these studies included: 1) a translational PK modeling approach that predicted clozapine and norclozapine central nervous system exposures in humans relating these exposures to receptor binding kinetics at multiple receptors; 2) a population pharmacokinetic analysis of a study of sertraline in depressed elderly patients with Alzheimer’s disease that identified site specific differences in drug exposure contributing to the overall variability in sertraline exposure; 3) the utility of a longitudinal tumor dynamic model developed by the Food and Drug Administration for predicting survival in non-small cell lung cancer patients, including an exploration of the limitations of this approach; 4) a Monte Carlo clinical trial simulation approach that was used to evaluate a pre-defined oncology trial with a sparse drug concentration sampling schedule with the aim to quantify how well individual drug exposures, random variability, and the food effects of abiraterone and nilotinib were determined under these conditions; 5) a time to event analysis that facilitated the identification of candidate genes including polymorphisms associated with vincristine-induced neuropathy from several association analyses in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients; and 6) a LASSO penalized regression model that predicted vincristine-induced neuropathy and relapse in ALL patients and provided the basis for a risk assessment of the population. Overall, results from this dissertation provide an improved understanding of treatment effect in patients with an assessment of PK/PD combined and with a risk evaluation of drug toxicity and efficacy.

Prevalence rates for males and females with ADHD range from 2:1 to 9:1 depending on ADHD subtype and setting (APA, 2000). The purpose of the current study was to empirically review articles published between 2001-2010 from discipline-representative (psychology, pediatrics, and interdisciplinary) high- impact journals (JACP, JCCP, Pediatrics) to identify potential differences in the sampling or procedures of ADHD studies involving females and males. Results indicate females and minorities were both well represented across the three discipline-representative journals. However, no meaningful data were provided on minority ADHD females (0.04% of the overall N = 107,144 ADHD participants included in 212 studies). Recommendations to researchers and editors include a) increasing inclusion of minority ADHD females, b) requesting better documentation of overall inclusionary/exclusionary criteria, and c) increasing attention to potential biases in sampling procedures, referral practices, and data presentation approaches that hinder development of the literature concerning ADHD in minority females.

Peanut production has been decreasing in Senegal over the past decades for historical, political, economic and environmental reasons. One of the solutions proposed by recent Senegalese administrations is to increase production through agricultural research and the development of peanut varieties that are adapted to the environmental constraints in Senegal. The last variety developed is La Fleur 11, which is very drought tolerant. The purpose of the study is to assess the economic impact of research on La Fleur 11 on the Senegalese economy through an ex-ante evaluation of the net social benefits from the adoption of this new variety. In order to fulfill this objective, an economic surplus analysis is conducted within the framework of a partial equilibrium model. Results indicate that the net social benefits from the adoption of La Fleur 11 are positive. Assuming that all peanut supply is sold to SONACOS at a producer base price and that research evaluation is conducted at the farm-level, Consumers (SONACOS) are the main beneficiaries from research. Their benefits are on average 6 times producers' (farmers). The research-induced increase in the government cost of the subsidy represents 84 percent on average of consumers' and producers' benefits; the research-induced increase in net social welfare represents 16 percent on average of consumers' and producers' benefits. The internal rate of return averages around 43 percent. When peanut markets are disaggregated, research benefits consumers (SONACOS) 3 times more than producers (farmers) at the farm level. Most of producers' benefits come from farm household consumption (47 percent of total farm-level benefits) and most of consumers' benefits come from the official seed market. At the SONACOS-level where peanut oil and cakes are exported, research benefits producers (SONACOS) only; consumers (rest of the world) do not benefit from research at this level. The IRR is more likely to be about 42 percent. This study suggests that future investments in agricultural research in Senegal can result in a positive economic impact provided that other actions are undertaken regarding extension, credit, and input distribution in order to enhance adoption and take advantage of the yield potential of the new peanut varieties. Also, this study provides a procedure of research evaluation for future use in Senegal and West Africa. / Master of Science

(in English) The master thesis is focused on the scientometric methods of research and development evaluation and their use in particular system applied in the Czech Republic. Its introductory part presents the field of scientometrics, scientometric and bibliometric indicators and citation indices. Chapter 7 deals with research and development evaluation in Czech Republic, especially with Research Evaluation Guidelines and describes its assesment rules, results and changes due to its annual actualization. A battle of wills between the Guidelines supporters and opponents is the topic of chapter 8, in particular in the context of reallocation of institutional funding according to the Guidelines. Ideas and opinions of prominent scientists and policymakers are being presented followed by brief treatise on Czech system of research and development evaluation audit carried out by the company Technopolis Limited. In the conclusion the author summarizes and debates positives and negatives of the Czech system of science evaluation.