Intra- and inter-firm dynamics in combinatorial knowledge bases

[EN] Research on innovation has often concentrated on a narrow set of sectors and activities, and on the experiences of the most advanced regions in the world. However, innovation, when defined in a broad sense, incorporates a variety of processes and outputs that cut across organisational, sectoral, territorial and knowledge boundaries. This paper seeks to make a contribution to this literature by focusing on the experiences of less developed regions, and by examining how different knowledge bases contribute to technological upgrading and higher added value for firms. It argues that in regions where access to advanced knowledge and technology is restricted, or where firms do not have the absorptive capacity to access, absorb and exploit such knowledge, combining existing knowledge in innovative ways may be the best strategy for firms to become more innovative and competitive. It also argues that this combination can happen through vertical integration within the firm, or by the creation and maintenance of inter-firm mechanisms that stimulate knowledge dissemination. These themes are discussed by drawing on the evolution of the wine industry in three Portuguese regions. These regions have all experienced different trajectories, in terms of the renewal of their wine industry, and it is argued that this is in part the result of endogenous regional characteristics.This work was supported by an Early Career Grant by the Regional Studies Association and by the German Research Foundation/European Science Foundation [grant number 10-ECRP-007].Marques, P. (2019). Intra- and inter-firm dynamics in combinatorial knowledge bases. European Urban and Regional Studies. 26(2):186-204. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969776418779116S186204262Asheim, B. T., Boschma, R., & Cooke, P. (2011). Constructing Regional Advantage: Platform Policies Based on Related Variety and Differentiated Knowledge Bases. Regional Studies, 45(7), 893-904. doi:10.1080/00343404.2010.543126Balland, P.-A., & Rigby, D. (2016). The Geography of Complex Knowledge. Economic Geography, 93(1), 1-23. doi:10.1080/00130095.2016.1205947Christopherson, S., & Clark, J. (2007). Power in Firm Networks: What it Means for Regional Innovation Systems. Regional Studies, 41(9), 1223-1236. doi:10.1080/00343400701543330Cusmano, L., Morrison, A., & Rabellotti, R. (2010). Catching up Trajectories in the Wine Sector: A Comparative Study of Chile, Italy, and South Africa. World Development, 38(11), 1588-1602. doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2010.05.002Dosi, G., Faillo, M., & Marengo, L. (2008). Organizational Capabilities, Patterns of Knowledge Accumulation and Governance Structures in Business Firms: An Introduction. Organization Studies, 29(8-9), 1165-1185. doi:10.1177/0170840608094775Giuliani, E. (2007). The selective nature of knowledge networks in clusters: evidence from the wine industry. Journal of Economic Geography, 7(2), 139-168. doi:10.1093/jeg/lbl014Giuliani, E., & Bell, M. (2005). The micro-determinants of meso-level learning and innovation: evidence from a Chilean wine cluster. Research Policy, 34(1), 47-68. doi:10.1016/j.respol.2004.10.008Giuliani, E., Morrison, A., & Rabellotti, R. (2011). Innovation and Technological Catch-Up. doi:10.4337/9780857930514Grant, R. M. (1996). Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17(S2), 109-122. doi:10.1002/smj.4250171110Halkier, H., James, L., Dahlström, M., & Manniche, J. (2012). Knowledge Dynamics, Regions and Public Policy. European Planning Studies, 20(11), 1759-1766. doi:10.1080/09654313.2012.723419Hatch, C. J. (2013). Competitiveness by Design: An Institutionalist Perspective on the Resurgence of a «Mature» Industry in a High-Wage Economy. Economic Geography, 89(3), 261-284. doi:10.1111/ecge.12009Helfat, C. E. (2015). Vertical firm structure and industry evolution. Industrial and Corporate Change, 24(4), 803-818. doi:10.1093/icc/dtv027Malerba, F., Nelson, R., Orsenigo, L., & Winter, S. (2008). Vertical integration and disintegration of computer firms: a history-friendly model of the coevolution of the computer and semiconductor industries. Industrial and Corporate Change, 17(2), 197-231. doi:10.1093/icc/dtn001Manniche, J. (2012). Combinatorial Knowledge Dynamics: On the Usefulness of the Differentiated Knowledge Bases Model. European Planning Studies, 20(11), 1823-1841. doi:10.1080/09654313.2012.723423Manniche, J., Moodysson, J., & Testa, S. (2016). Combinatorial Knowledge Bases: An Integrative and Dynamic Approach to Innovation Studies. Economic Geography, 93(5), 480-499. doi:10.1080/00130095.2016.1205948Marques, P. (2017). From toys to automobiles: foreign investment, firm heterogeneity and intermediaries in a Portuguese industry. European Planning Studies, 25(8), 1375-1393. doi:10.1080/09654313.2017.1303822Marques, P. (2017). Human capital and university–business interactions: an example from the wine industry. Regional Studies, Regional Science, 4(1), 154-160. doi:10.1080/21681376.2017.1341818Martin, R., & Moodysson, J. (2011). Comparing knowledge bases: on the geography and organization of knowledge sourcing in the regional innovation system of Scania, Sweden. European Urban and Regional Studies, 20(2), 170-187. doi:10.1177/0969776411427326Martin, R., & Sunley, P. (2003). Deconstructing clusters: chaotic concept or policy panacea? Journal of Economic Geography, 3(1), 5-35. doi:10.1093/jeg/3.1.5Moulaert, F., & Sekia, F. (2003). Territorial Innovation Models: A Critical Survey. Regional Studies, 37(3), 289-302. doi:10.1080/0034340032000065442Pina, K., & Tether, B. S. (2016). Towards understanding variety in knowledge intensive business services by distinguishing their knowledge bases. Research Policy, 45(2), 401-413. doi:10.1016/j.respol.2015.10.005Polenske, K. R. (Ed.). (2007). The Economic Geography of Innovation. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511493386Rabellotti, R., & Schmitz, H. (1999). The Internal Heterogeneity of Industrial Districts in Italy, Brazil and Mexico. Regional Studies, 33(2), 97-108. doi:10.1080/00343409950122909Tödtling, F., & Grillitsch, M. (2015). Does Combinatorial Knowledge Lead to a Better Innovation Performance of Firms? European Planning Studies, 23(9), 1741-1758. doi:10.1080/09654313.2015.1056773WILLIAMSON, O. E. (1995). Hierarchies, Markets and Power in the Economy : An Economic Perspective. Industrial and Corporate Change, 4(1), 21-49. doi:10.1093/icc/4.1.2

Using zeta-potential measurements to quantify peptide partition to lipid membranes

© The Author(s) 2011. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com.Open Access: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.Many cellular phenomena occur on the biomembranes. There are plenty of molecules (natural or xenobiotics) that interact directly or partially with the cell membrane. Biomolecules, such as several peptides (e.g., antimicrobial peptides) and proteins, exert their effects at the cell membrane level. This feature makes necessary investigating their interactions with lipids to clarify their mechanisms of action and side effects necessary. The determination of molecular lipid/water partition constants (Kp) is frequently used to quantify the extension of the interaction. The determination of this parameter has been achieved by using different methodologies, such as UV-Vis absorption spectrophotometry, fluorescence spectroscopy and ζ-potential measurements. In this work, we derived and tested a mathematical model to determine the Kp from ζ-potential data. The values obtained with this method were compared with those obtained by fluorescence spectroscopy, which is a regular technique used to quantify the interaction of intrinsically fluorescent peptides with selected biomembrane model systems. Two antimicrobial peptides (BP100 and pepR) were evaluated by this new method. The results obtained by this new methodology show that ζ-potential is a powerful technique to quantify peptide/lipid interactions of a wide variety of charged molecules, overcoming some of the limitations inherent to other techniques, such as the need for fluorescent labeling.This work was partially supported by project PTDC/QUI/ 69937/2006 from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia-Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (FCT-MCTES, Portugal), and by Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Portugal). JMF and MMD also thank FCT-MCTES for grants IMM/BT/37-2010 and SFRH/BD/41750/2007, respectively

Recognition of Face Identity and Emotion in Expressive Specific Language Impairment

Objective: To study face and emotion recognition in children with mostly expressive specific language impairment (SLI-E). Subjects and Methods: A test movie to study perception and recognition of faces and mimic-gestural expression was applied to 24 children diagnosed as suffering from SLI-E and an age-matched control group of normally developing children. Results: Compared to a normal control group, the SLI-E children scored significantly worse in both the face and expression recognition tasks with a preponderant effect on emotion recognition. The performance of the SLI-E group could not be explained by reduced attention during the test session. Conclusion: We conclude that SLI-E is associated with a deficiency in decoding non-verbal emotional facial and gestural information, which might lead to profound and persistent problems in social interaction and development. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base

Molecular characterization of beta-tubulin from Phakopsora pachyrhizi, the causal agent of Asian soybean rust

β-tubulins are structural components of microtubules and the targets of benzimidazole fungicides used to control many diseases of agricultural importance. Intron polymorphisms in the intron-rich genes of these proteins have been used in phylogeographic investigations of phytopathogenic fungi. In this work, we sequenced 2764 nucleotides of the β-tubulin gene (Pp tubB) in samples of Phakopsora pachyrhizi collected from seven soybean fields in Brazil. Pp tubB contained an open reading frame of 1341 nucleotides, including nine exons and eight introns. Exon length varied from 14 to 880 nucleotides, whereas intron length varied from 76 to 102 nucleotides. The presence of only four polymorphic sites limited the usefulness of Pp tubB for phylogeographic studies in P. pachyrhizi. The gene structures of Pp tubB and orthologous β-tubulin genes of Melampsora lini and Uromyces viciae-fabae were highly conserved. The amino acid substitutions in β-tubulin proteins associated with the onset of benzimidazole resistance in model organisms, especially at His 6 , Glu 198 and Phe 200 , were absent from the predicted sequence of the P. pachyrhizi β-tubulin protein

In vitro calibration of a system for measurement of in vivo convective heat transfer coefficient in animals

BACKGROUND: We need a sensor to measure the convective heat transfer coefficient during ablation of the heart or liver. METHODS: We built a minimally invasive instrument to measure the in vivo convective heat transfer coefficient, h in animals, using a Wheatstone-bridge circuit, similar to a hot-wire anemometer circuit. One arm is connected to a steerable catheter sensor whose tip is a 1.9 mm × 3.2 mm thin film resistive temperature detector (RTD) sensor. We used a circulation system to simulate different flow rates at 39°C for in vitro experiments using distilled water, tap water and saline. We heated the sensor approximately 5°C above the fluid temperature. We measured the power consumed by the sensor and the resistance of the sensor during the experiments and analyzed these data to determine the value of the convective heat transfer coefficient at various flow rates. RESULTS: From 0 to 5 L/min, experimental values of h in W/(m(2)·K) were for distilled water 5100 to 13000, for tap water 5500 to 12300, and for saline 5400 to 13600. Theoretical values were 1900 to 10700. CONCLUSION: We believe this system is the smallest, most accurate method of minimally invasive measurement of in vivo h in animals and provides the least disturbance of flow

Results of a participatory needs assessment demonstrate an opportunity to involve people who use alcohol in drug user activism and harm reduction

BACKGROUND: Drug users’ organizations have made progress in recent years in advocating for the health and human rights of people who use illicit drugs but have historically not emphasized the needs of people who drink alcohol. METHODS: This paper reports on a qualitative participatory needs assessment with people who use illicit substances in British Columbia, Canada. We held workshops in 17 communities; these were facilitated by people who use illicit drugs, recorded with ethnographic fieldnotes, and analyzed using critical theory. RESULTS: Although the workshops were targeted to people who use illicit drugs, people who primarily consume alcohol also attended. An unexpected finding was the potential for drug users’ organizations and other harm reduction programs to involve “illicit drinkers”: people who drink non-beverage alcohol (e.g. mouthwash, rubbing alcohol) and those who drink beverage alcohol in criminalized ways (e.g., homeless drinkers). Potential points of alliance between these groups are common priorities (specifically, improving treatment by health professionals and the police, expanding housing options, and implementing harm reduction services), common values (reducing surveillance and improving accountability of services), and polysubstance use. CONCLUSIONS: Despite these potential points of alliance, there has historically been limited involvement of illicit drinkers in drug users’ activism. Possible barriers to involvement of illicit drinkers in drug users’ organizations include racism (as discourses around alcohol use are highly racialized), horizontal violence, the extreme marginalization of illicit drinkers, and knowledge gaps around harm reduction for alcohol. Understanding the commonalities between people who use drugs and people who use alcohol, as well as the potential barriers to alliance between them, may facilitate the greater involvement of illicit drinkers in drug users’ organizations and harm reduction services