Figure 1
Figure 2
The scientific and technical “unicorns” in other five disciplines (2000–2012)_
| Year | Scientific papers (absolute number) | Technical patents (absolute number) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemistry | Multidisciplinary Sciences | Computer Science | Physics | Astronomy & Astrophysics | Computing & Calculating & Counting | Basic Electric Elements | Agriculture | Electric Communication Technique | Sports & Games & Amusement | |
| 2000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 2001 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 2002 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 2005 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 27 | 18 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 50 | 21 | 11 | 7 | 5 |
The annual distribution of biomedical “unicorns” (2000–2012)_
| Year/Biomedical unicorns | Scientific papers | Technical patents | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Absolute number | Relative ratio (%) | Absolute number | Relative ratio (%) | |
| 2000 | 2 | 0.0002 | 5 | 0.0007 |
| 2001 | 2 | 0.0002 | 6 | 0.0008 |
| 2002 | 2 | 0.0002 | 1 | 0.0001 |
| 2003 | 4 | 0.0004 | 1 | 0.0001 |
| 2004 | 6 | 0.0006 | 1 | 0.0001 |
| 2005 | 3 | 0.0003 | 9 | 0.0010 |
| 2006 | 3 | 0.0003 | 10 | 0.0011 |
| 2007 | 7 | 0.0006 | 24 | 0.0022 |
| 2008 | 5 | 0.0004 | 35 | 0.0030 |
| 2009 | 19 | 0.0015 | 10 | 0.0008 |
| 2010 | 18 | 0.0014 | 3 | 0.0002 |
| 2011 | 8 | 0.0001 | 0 | 0.0000 |
| 2012 | 16 | 0.0002 | 1 | 0.0001 |
| Total | 95 | 0.0007 | 106 | 0.0008 |
A selected top 10 technical patents of biomedical “unicorns” (2001–2010)_
| Code | Title | Inventor(s) | Patent No. | CT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pn1 | Producing humanized immunoglobulin, involves producing a cell containing DNA segments encoding humanized heavy and light chain variable regions, and expressing the DNA segments in the cell | QUEEN C L; SELICK H E | US6180370-B1; | 542 |
| Pn2 | Analyte level monitoring device for diabetes treatment, has transmitter arranged on substrate of electrochemical sensor, for transmitting signal indicating analyte level in bodily fluid | HELLER A; DRUCKER S M; JIN R Y; FUNDERBURK J V; et al. | WO200258537-A2; US2003100821-A1; US6560471-B1; | 514 |
| Pn3 | Spinal cord stimulation system includes surgical components, which consist of insertion needle and tunneling tools to aid implantation of electrode array and lead extension | MEADOWS P; MANN C M; PETERSON D K; et al. | US6516227-B1; | 674 |
| Pn4 | Surgical stapling instrument for laparoscopic and endoscopic clinical procedure has firing device that has a distally presented cutting edge longitudinally received between the elongated channel and the anvil | SHELTONIV FE; SETSER M E; HEMMELGARN B J; et al. | EP1479349-A1; US2004232196-A1; CA2467795-A1; | 514 |
| Pn5 | Surgical instrument for endoscopically inserting end effector, e.g. endo-cutter, grasper, cutter, and staplers, includes articulation control comprising actuator, and motion conversion mechanism | WALES K S | US2005006430-A1; CA2473482-A1; JP2005028148-A; | 717 |
| Pn6 | Surgical instrument e.g. endo-cutter for use during fastening of buttress pads to tissue, comprises staple applying assembly attached to elongate shaft, which includes opposing tissue compression surfaces | SHELTON F E; SHELTON F; WALES K S; et al. | EP1621141-A2; JP2006043451-A; US2006025816-A1; | 722 |
| Pn7 | Medical device e.g. surgical stapler, for e.g. stapling tissue, has articulation joint actuator to hold passive joint and end effector in fixed articulation state during unactuated state and to release joint during actuated state | SMITH K W; PALMER M A; KLINE K R; et al. | US2007187453-A1; US7404508-B2; AU2015201382-B2; | 817 |
| Pn8 | Surgical stapling apparatus includes drive assembly that is supported in the tool assembly and which has a knife blade disposed in an elongated longitudinal slot formed by the anvil plate and the staple cartridge | TARINELLI D; ARANYI E; SIMPSON R; et al. | WO2008109125-A1; US2009134200-A1; | 674 |
| Pn9 | Disposable loading unit for endoscopic surgical stapling instrument for incising fastened tissue, has anvil portion that is provided with staple-deforming cavity, and cover plate is secured for supporting anvil portion | ARMSTRONG G A; BLAIR G B; BRUEWER D B; et al. | EP2090235-A2; US2009206140-A1; CN101507634-A; | 571 |
| Pn10 | Motor e.g. stepper motor, driven surgical cutting and fastening instrument i.e. endoscopic instrument, for use by e.g. physician for endoscopic application, has motor with operational modes for portions of cutting stroke cycle of instrument | LAURENT R J; SHELTON F E; SMITH B W; et al. | EP2165664-A2; JP2010075694-A; US2010076474-A1; | 675 |
The overall conclusive data of scientific and technical “unicorns” (2000–2012)_
| Year | Scientific papers | Technical patents | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WoS total papers | Absolute unicorn number | Ur: Relative unicorn ratio (%) | DII total patents | Absolute unicorn number | Ur: Relative unicorn ratio (%) | |
| 2000 | 874,542 | 2 | 0.0002 | 672,139 | 33 | 0.0049 |
| 2001 | 872,370 | 5 | 0.0006 | 729,168 | 21 | 0.0029 |
| 2002 | 889,519 | 4 | 0.0004 | 786,869 | 12 | 0.0015 |
| 2003 | 927,047 | 6 | 0.0006 | 791,486 | 16 | 0.0020 |
| 2004 | 967,440 | 11 | 0.0011 | 824,382 | 13 | 0.0016 |
| 2005 | 1,016,231 | 6 | 0.0006 | 893,139 | 22 | 0.0025 |
| 2006 | 1,070,302 | 8 | 0.0007 | 924,045 | 17 | 0.0018 |
| 2007 | 1,122,363 | 13 | 0.0012 | 1,085,298 | 30 | 0.0028 |
| 2008 | 1,201,425 | 15 | 0.0012 | 1,163,732 | 41 | 0.0035 |
| 2009 | 1,251,718 | 30 | 0.0024 | 1,224,936 | 12 | 0.0010 |
| 2010 | 1,294,375 | 28 | 0.0022 | 1,384,960 | 3 | 0.0002 |
| 2011 | 1,373,399 | 16 | 0.0012 | 1,473,876 | 1 | 0.0001 |
| 2012 | 1,441,144 | 21 | 0.0015 | 1,774,920 | 3 | 0.0002 |
| Total | 14,301,875 | 165 | 0.0012 | 13,728,950 | 224 | 0.0016 |
A comparison of theoretical (predictive) and empirical values_
| Code | Scientific papers | Technical patents | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| theoretical | empirical | theoretical | Empirical | |
| P1 | 7,205 | 8,204 | 453 | 593 |
| P2 | 6,755 | 6,746 | 444 | 554 |
| P3 | 13,028 | 8,725 | 426 | 617 |
| P4 | 11,354 | 5,813 | 417 | 511 |
| P5 | 7,619 | 7,062 | 426 | 556 |
| P6 | 7,286 | 5,151 | 462 | 832 |
| P7 | 6,035 | 8,339 | 498 | 542 |
| P8 | 7,421 | 7,661 | 543 | 751 |
| P9 | 7,367 | 8,688 | 516 | 566 |
| P10 | 6,089 | 6,463 | 444 | 507 |
| RMSE | 0.2127 | 0.2127 | 0.0923 | 0.0923 |
The fitting parameters of scientific and technical “unicorns” (p<0_01)_
| Code | Scientific papers | Technical patents | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eq. (3) | Eq. (2) | Eq. (3) | Eq. (2) | |
| B | 121.364 | 121.364 | 8.057 | 8.057 |
| a | 19.895 | 148.005 | 8.988 | 13.196 |
| Obs | 805 | 805 | 1008 | 1008 |
| R2 | 0.650 | 0.642 | 0.541 | 0.522 |
| R2adj | 0.609 | 0.600 | 0.490 | 0.469 |
| RSE | 506.307 | 506.307 | 24.372 | 24.372 |
| F | 15.897 | 15.362 | 10.562 | 9.793 |
A selected top 10 scientific papers of biomedical “unicorns” (2001–2010)_
| Code | Title | Author(s) | Source | CT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pr1 | Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome | Lander, ES et al. | NATURE | 8,725 |
| Pr2 | Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with lifestyle intervention or metformin | Knowler, WC; Barrett-Connor, E; Fowler, SE; et al. | NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE. | 5,151 |
| Pr3 | Measuring inconsistency in meta-analyses | Higgins, JPT; Thompson, SG; Deeks, JJ; et al. | BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL | 5,443 |
| Pr4 | MicroRNAs: Genomics, biogenesis, mechanism, and function | Bartel, DP | CELL | 8,688 |
| Pr5 | Arlequin (version 3.0): An integrated software package for population genetics data analysis | Excoffier, Laurent; Laval, Guillaume; Schneider, Stefan | EVOLUTIONARY BIOINFORMATICS | 7,808 |
| Pr6 | Induction of pluripotent stem cells from mouse embryonic and adult fibroblast cultures by defined factors | Takahashi, Kazutoshi; Yamanaka, Shinya | CELL | 8,826 |
| Pr7 | Induction of pluripotent stem cells from adult human fibroblasts by defined factors | Takahashi, Kazutoshi; Tanabe, Koji; Ohnuki, Mari; Narita, et al. | CELL | 8,029 |
| Pr8 | Analyzing real-time PCR data by the comparative C-T method | Schmittgen, Thomas D.; Livak, Kenneth J. | NATURE PROTOCOLS | 7,665 |
| Pr9 | MicroRNAs: Target Recognition and Regulatory Functions | Bartel, David P. | CELL | 10,328 |
| Pr10 | PHENIX: a comprehensive Python-based system for macromolecular structure solution | Adams, Paul D.; Afonine, Pavel V.; Bunkoczi, Gabor; et al. | ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D-STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY | 11,194 |