During the recent years, the rapid progression of China has become increasingly manifest on the international arena. Accordingly, it has been questioned whether the world is currently witnessing the re-emergence of a new ‘Pax Sinica’, implying a period of Asian dominance as evident during the 10th century. In general, China has tended to be portrayed as a threat to the US hegemony and the current ‘Pax Americana’. In light of China’s quest for new markets and energy supplies so as to sustain its growing economy, its search for global alliances and enhanced presence in the resource-rich continent of Africa is of significant importance. As such, this study has argued that the Sino-African relationship could be seen as an illustration of China’s endeavor towards global recognition. In this context, the conceptual framework of geopolitics has been used to enhance the understanding of the Sino-African relationship, the potential of a ‘Pax Sinica’ and the various perspectives surrounding it. Potential constraints and possibilities from both an African, Western and Chinese perspective have accordingly been examined. In particular, the concept of critical geopolitics has been employed in order to better identify different notions of power, common discourses and their possible motivations. The concept of hermeneutics has likewise been applied so as to move beyond the general impression of China and its interaction with Africa. In doing so, some of the core components of the multifaceted Sino-African relationship have been investigated, i.e. aid, trade, and oil. Likewise, the implications of Chinese migration to Africa and the country’s role in ‘less significant’ countries such as Ethiopia have been considered. The main conclusions of this study are that there are strong indicators of China becoming a leading hegemony, and particularly in the ‘Global South’. From a geopolitical standpoint, two distinct perspectives in regards to China and their interaction with Africa have been highlighted. The first one is the typical Western standpoint, which has commonly adopted a more conventional geopolitical perspective in their portrayal of ‘the greedy Chinese’ as a global threat. This has been put in contrast to the more critical geopolitical perspective of China, who has pointed to its asserted ‘peaceful rise’, unconventional strategies and use of ‘soft power’. In acknowledging China as the leading hegemony of the ‘Global South’, it is likely to believe that the world will sooner or later enter an era of ‘Pax Sinica’.

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學術研究機構向來是科技創新的主要動力來源，許多與人類生活息息相關的發明多半來自於學術研究機構此一孕育創新的搖籃。此外，一個國家的學術研究能量往往也反映了該國的技術能力與競爭力，因此世界各國無不投注大量資源於大專院校及研究機構，期望除了學術產出之外，亦能將原始的創新概念透過研發活動轉化為智慧財產，並進一步將其商業化，滿足市場需求，實現知識之最大價值。 我國之學術研究能量並不落於美、歐、日等主要技術領先國之後，從我國政府投注於學術研發活動之經費、歷年發表於SCI、EI等期刊論文以及取得美國專利之數量等科技發展成果指標便可說明此點，然我國於1999年通過與美國拜杜法案意義相當之科技基本法至今已滿九年，各學研機構之專利申請量雖有成長之勢，然而2007年實際之智慧財產權收益卻僅佔研發總投入費用的0.87%；2005年全國技術貿易額收支比僅達0.23，與美、日、英等國相較，實可謂差強人意，顯見我國在研發成果商業化上已面臨一定瓶頸。 在知識大爆炸方興未艾的二十一世紀，可以預見的是將有越來越多的研發成果持續產出，學研機構花費於取得並維護智慧財產之費用亦將持續提高，如何在產出的眾多研發成果及專利中，篩選出真正有商業化潛力之標的，以將有限的人力、時間、資金等資源投注於其上並轉化為實質的經濟效益，將是學研機構進行研發成果商業化時的重要課題；此外，在學研機構法人化之潮流下，若未來大學等學研單位須自行負擔大部份資金之籌措時，此一評估機制將更顯重要。另，在資訊高度不對稱的情況下，技術需求方難以辨認技術供給方之技術是否為適合之交易標的，因此若能建立一套商業化可行性評估機制，亦能使雙方間之資訊交流更為順暢，促進技術之移轉與商業化。 因此，本研究嘗試提出一研發成果商業化可行性評估機制，以供學研機構進行內部評估，使國內「悶住」的研發能量得以透過有效的評估機制而活化。又，由於不同科技領域所適用之商業化可行性評估方式將有所差異，而生物科技領域為二十一世紀科技發展中之重要領域，且列為政府政策下的重點發展產業之一，加以作者本身之相關學經歷背景，是以本研究選擇生物科技領域研發成果為討論之重點。 本研究分別從5W的角度來探討研發成果商業化可行性之評估機制，分別是進行商業化可行性評估之目的(Why)、進行商業化可行性評估之時點(When)、商業化可行性評估之執行者(Who)、評估所需資訊之取得(How)以及進行商業化可行性評估時所需考量之因素(What)，最後建立一研發成果商業化可行性評估機制，作為本研究之核心概念以及後續個案探討之依據。 此外，本研究針對研發成果商業化可行性評估之各項構面進行介紹，並提出學研機構於進行評估時在各構面應考量之重要項目與問題。依所建立之評估機制與架構流程，將評估構面分為技術、智慧財產、市場、法規與財務五大構面，並以技術與智慧財產構面為探討之重點。 由於本研究之研究對象為學術研究機構，且以生物科技領域為重心，故由大專院校、基礎研究機構及應用研究機構中各挑選一具代表性之單位作為個案研究對象，分別為國立陽明大學、中央研究院以及財團法人工業技術研究院，透過與各機構之研發成果管理專責單位進行訪談，深入了解其運作機制與現況，以期綜覽各類型學研機構之研發成果商業化可行性評估機制，並得出研究發現及建議。 根據個案研究之發現，本研究對於國內學研機構之整體建議，主要包括：研發成果商業化可行性評估機制應依機構之目的、性質、智財管理現況加以擬定；研發成果商業化可行性評估之構面應配合研發成果之性質及開發階段而設定，並以技術構面為基礎，智財構面為樞紐連結市場與法規構面之評估，最後以財務構面進行統合；而學研機構若欲採外部審查方式執行評估工作，須考量可能之缺失；此外，研發成果商業化可行性之評估應由具備跨領域能力之團隊加以執行，並應使具備產業經驗與市場背景之人員有一定程度之涉入；再者，生物科技領域研發成果因其本質上之特殊性，故於進行商業化可行性評估時，有諸多因素需加以考量；最後，政府可主動協助建立專業之機構或團隊，提供學研機構進行研發成果商業化可行性評估甚至後續之技術行銷服務，以有效符合規模經濟、範疇經濟與專業、客觀之考量。 / Academic and research institutes are the origins of technology innovation. Many of the significant inventions were devised in these cradles of innovation. Academic and research power can often indicates the technology capability and competency of a nation. Every government invests vast resources to universities and research institutes in order not only to make academic publication but also to realize the maximum value of the knowledge through converting the innovative ideas into intellectual properties (IP) and further commercializing the R&D achievements to meet the market needs. The academic researches in Taiwan can compete with the technological leading countries such as the U.S, Japan, and E.U. countries, in terms of some science and technology indicators like R & D expenditure, SCI / EI publications, and the number of U.S. patent granted. Nevertheless, the actual revenue generated by IP in 2007 was only account for 0.87% of the total R&D input and the coverage ratio of technology balance of payments was only 0.23 in 2005. The fact indicates that there were some barriers on the path of R&D commercialization in Taiwan. In the 21st century of knowledge explosion, it is predictable that more and more R&D achievements will be generated from academic institutes and the expenses devoted to the acquisition and protection of IP will keep rising. Therefore, it will become a critical issue in academic institutes to sieve out the targets of the higher commercial potential from numerous R&D results and patents so as to concentrate the time, human and financial resources on those targets for its further commercialization. Moreover, under the highly asymmetrical information situation during the technology trading, technology buyers have difficulty in identifying whether the technology is a suitable trading target or not. A well-established feasibility evaluation mechanism will also stimulate the interflow of information and promote the technology transfer and commercialization. Accordingly, this thesis will try to establish a feasibility evaluation mechanism (FEM) for commercialization of R&D achievements in academic institutes in order to activate the stuffy R&D energy in Taiwan. Biotechnology is one of the most important fields of technology in the 21st century and thus be the main concern of the discussion of this thesis. This thesis will investigate the feasibility evaluation mechanism for commercialization of R&D achievements on a “5W” basis, including the purposes of evaluation (why), the time of evaluation (when), the executives of evaluation (who), the information needed in the evaluation process (how), and the factors that should be taken into consideration in the evaluation process (what). Accordingly, a feasibility evaluation mechanism for commercialization of R&D achievements will be established as the central concept of this study and as the ground of follow-up case analysis. In addition, each aspects of feasibility evaluation as well as the significant issues and questions of each aspect will be illustrated in this study. According to the feasibility evaluation mechanism and framework established in this study, there are five main evaluation aspects including the technical aspect, intellectual property aspect, market aspect, legal aspect, and financial aspect. The main subjects of this study were the academic institutes in biotechnology field in Taiwan, the National Yang-Ming University, the Academia Sinica, and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). These institutes are chosen as the subjects of case study standing respectively for the higher education institute, basic research institute, and the applied research institute. By way of interviewing the personnel of R&D achievements and IPR management department in the institutes in question, the feasibility evaluation mechanism implemented by different types of academic institutes was investigated to delineate the key findings, followed up with some practical advices. The overall advices proposed by this study for the academic institutes in Taiwan were summarized as follows: (1) The feasibility evaluation mechanism for commercialization of R&D achievements should be devised in accordance with the purpose, the nature, and the IP management status of each institute. (2) The feasibility evaluation should be set to match up the development stage of the R&D achievements and take the technical aspect as the groundwork, IP aspect as the pivot connecting to the market and legal aspect, and the financial aspect as an integrated result. (3) Evaluation executed by external parties may be of some defects that should be taken into consideration. (4) The feasibility evaluation for R&D commercialization should be executed by multi-disciplinary team and the industry-experienced or market personnel should as well participate in the evaluation process. (5) Due to the characteristics of biotechnology, many special factors should be involved in the evaluation process. (6) The government may actively assist in setting up a professional organization or team to provide feasibility evaluation and even the further technology marketing services to meet the consideration of economies of scale/ scope, specialty, and objectivity.

The aim of the present work was to investigate the impact of the varying environmental conditions on the taxonomic and phenotypic diversification of a geographically widespread and ecologically successful Old World primate genus, the macaques (Cercopithecidae: Macaca). To this end, the relationship between geography, ecology, phylogeny, and phenotypic variation among macaques was investigated. Constraints to phenotypic variation – and thus evolution – were also analysed in the form of observed amounts of phenotypic variation and patterns of phenotypic integration. A total of 72 standard linear measurements of teeth and associated cranial and mandibular structures were taken for a total sample of 744 specimens from 13 species of macaques. Climate and ecological data were collated from the literature. Univariate and multivariate statistics were employed for the analysis. Patterns of variation, covariation, and allometry were analysed in the dentition, both within and between species. The ecogeographical analysis was carried out by means of two-block partial least squares and a type of multivariate regression, both in a phylogenetic framework. Phylogenetic signal was tested for by means of Blomberg’s K. Macaque teeth differ in their variability. All teeth covary with each other, although correlations are strongest within tooth classes. Size was a strong contributing factor to dental integration, as evinced by lower correlations between teeth once allometric effects were removed. Integration patterns also showed modularity between the anterior and the posterior dentition. Between-species variation in overall craniodental size was associated with temperature, latitude, and body size. Species also varied, albeit to a lesser degree, along an antero-posterior contrast in relative tooth size. Larger anterior were found to be associated with frugivory and tropical ecology, whereas a larger posterior dentition was linked to a more folivorous diet and temperate environments. The latter pattern was largely a function of phylogenetic relatedness. Phylogenetic signal was generally strong in the dentition, although it was substantially greater in the anterior teeth (incisors and canines) than in the posterior teeth (premolars and molars). Macaques show adaptive differentiation in body size in response to temperature along a latitudinal cline, corroborating the presence of the Bergmann effect in macaques. There was no conclusive support for further adaptive differentiation, despite an association between relative tooth size and diet. Allometry appears to channel evolutionary divergence of macaques along a line of least evolutionary resistance, and developmental modularity allows for partly uncoupled evolution of the anterior and posterior dentition. Future research should be aimed at broadening the taxonomic scope to include craniodental variation of the African papionins and cercopithecins in order to put the observed macaque patterns in a broader evolutionary context.