STRATEGIES DEVELOPED BY LEADING EU AGRI-FOOD COOPERATIVES IN THEIR GROWTH MODEL

The rationale for this paper is the problem relating to the growth of agricultural cooperatives in Spain in recent years in comparison to increasingly concentrated food distribution, which captures most of the value added. This paper analyses the evolution and status of other countries within Europe where the need for business consolidation has been successfully addressed. For this purpose, there have been identified 7 cases to be studied: Kerry group, Irish Dairy Board, Arla Foods, The Greenery BV, Danish Crown, Agrifirm and DLG. The specific results of interviews with the senior management of this cooperatives were analyzed and organized into four blocks in which the issues raised are grouped (legal and institutional framework, strategic vision, business growth models and market standing). A number of specific aims are also pursued:  Identify the main barriers and problems faced by this type of cooperatives.  Show the strategies developed by leading cooperatives in their sector within the current comparative context.  Become familiar with the different growth models these cooperatives use to achieve and maintain their market standing.Agribusiness,

Does post merger financial performance improve after agrifood mergers of cooperatives? An empirican analysis

This study was carried out to characterize the mergers and acquisitions undertaken in the Spanish agrifood sector during the period 1995-2005 and has two objectives. Firstly, it aims to determine the manner in which economic-financial factors influence the type of merger carried out (merger by formation of a new legal person and merger by acquisition), and the role played by cooperatives (acquirer, acquired or cooperative involved in a merger by formation). Secondly, it aims to determine whether these mergers have contributed to reaching any of the objectives they were set out to achieve: improving the economic-financial situation of the companies involved, increasing income and reducing relative costs. The results obtained show that on average, following a merger, there were no statistically significant improvements in the economic-financial indicators studied.Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance,

MOOC en nanotecnología en la UA: Un ejemplo de innovación docente y tecnológica en Química Inorgánica

Las plataformas virtuales y herramientas on-line son parte de la vida cotidiana de los estudiantes que llenan nuestras aulas. El término web 2.0, introducido por O’Reilly y Dougherty en 2004, describe la transición de la web como una fuente de información a la web basada en comunidades de usuarios, con una gama especial de servicios y aplicaciones de internet que se modifica gracias a la participación social. La creación de comunidades on-line para mejorar la calidad del binomio enseñanza-aprendizaje es, por lo tanto, una herramienta útil para la educación superior. En este contexto, el Laboratorio de Nanotecnología Molecular de la UA ha desarrollado un proyecto educativo innovador, el primer MOOC (del inglés Massive On-line Open Course) sobre nanotecnología en España. El objetivo de este curso es obtener una mejor comprensión de lo que es la nanotecnología y su conexión con la vida real. El sitio web es la principal guía a través de los recursos y actividades del curso, dividido en diez unidades didácticas. El estudiante dispone, además, de una serie de herramientas gratuitas que descubrirá en las diferentes unidades, como vídeos, tutoriales, applets, etc. La única condición para acceder al curso es registrarse con una dirección de Gmail

An integrative model of knowledge management and team work

La relevancia de la gestión de recursos humanos en la gestión del conocimiento ha sido estudiada en las publicaciones académicas desde un enfoque de procesos de selección, remuneración o del sistema de desarrollo de carrera. Hemos encontrado pocas publicaciones que se centren en el comportamiento del grupo de personas que generan, comparten y transmiten el conocimiento trabajando en equipos. El objetivo de esta investigación es proponer un modelo que describa la relación entre gestión del conocimiento y trabajo en equipo, integrando las propuestas de los modelos de Nonaka y Takeuchi (1995); Leonard-Barton (1995) y Heisig (2000), y plantear una reflexión para futuras investigacionesHuman Resource Management relevance in Knowledge Management has been studied in academic literature mostly from the point of view of recruitment, selection, wages and salaries and career development processes. We have found few publications that are focused in the behaviour of the group of people who generate, share and transfer that knowledge while working in a team. The aim of this paper is to propose a framework that describes the relation between knowledge management and team work,, integrating Nonaka and Takeuchi, Leonard- Barton and Heisig framework proposals, as well as to outline some reflexions for further researches.Peer Reviewe

Evaluation of psychomotor skills acquired for surgery by veterinary students using biological simulators

This study aimed to evaluate the acquisition of psychomotor skills using biological simulators in surgical practices by thirdyear students of Veterinary Medicine at the Autonomous Metropolitan University, Mexico City. The Gibson Spiral Test was applied pre- and post-practice to 171 students (92 women, 79 men) between 18 and 38 years old. The techniques practiced were: ligature, synthetic skin, enterotomy, enterectomy, gastrostomy, cystotomy, endotracheal tube placement, permanent intravenous catheter. Students were classified as fast-accurate (FA), fast- inaccurate (FI), slow-accurate (SA), and slow-inaccurate (SI). The test duration decreased by 7.91s (P0.10). There were differences among the fast (F) and slow (S) students pre-practice (P0.10). Comparing practice time difference (P=0.007) between slow and fast in the pre-practice, men performed more quickly in pre-practice and after practice (P<0.0001), with no differences in mean number of errors pre- (P=0.662) and post-practice (P=0.962). We conclude that students showed progress in acquiring motor skills, by increasing their speed and reducing errors, thus increasing the number of fast and accurate students. Men outperformed women

Mollusc-shell debris can mitigate the deleterious effects of organic pollution on marine sediments

1. Organic pollution is widespread in coastal areas and can have profound impacts on the seabed. Coastal sediments play an important role at a global scale in the recycling of organic matter, and this process is influenced by the habitat complexity of the sediments, among other factors. Mollusc shells are produced as a waste product from a range of anthropogenic activities, but we demonstrate that they can be used to increase the habitat complexity of sediments. 2. We studied the effect of mussel-shell debris (shell-hash) on the biogeochemical processes of marine sediments affected by organic pollution, using a mesocosm experiment simulating the bioturbation effects of macrofauna. 3. We found that shell-hash improved the ecological status of organically polluted sediments by reducing the accumulation of sulphide from anaerobic metabolic pathways. 4. Additionally, when shell-hash was present in an organically polluted sediment, there was a decrease in ammonium release to the water column, thus preventing the negative ecological consequences of eutrophication. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our study indicates that shell-hash debris can be used as a potential tool to mitigate the effects of organic enrichment on marine sediments. A density of shell-hash debris of 1900 g m-2 in the sediment can diminish toxic by-products (sulphides and ammonium) derived from the stimulation of anaerobic metabolic pathways by organic pollution, at levels that are biologically relevant. The mitigation effect of shell-hash is more pronounced in sediments where macrofauna is not present.This work has been funded by the projects: GRE14-19 from the University of Alicante, GV/2015/001 from the ‘Conselleria de Educación, Cultura y Deporte’ of the government of the Valencia region and CGL2015-70136-R from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO/FEDER) of Spain. CS was funded by the contract ‘Juan de la Cierva’ (ref. JCI-2012-12413) from MINECO

White-emitting organometallo-silica nanoparticles for sun-like light-emitting diodes

This work discloses a radically new way to prepare white-emitting hybrid nanoparticles, whose implementation in lighting devices provides encouraging proof-of-concept performances towards alternative sunlight sources. In detail, the new synthetic approach is based on the kinetic control of the formation of organometallic dots, built via the condensation of three emitting iridium(III) complexes, which are subsequently transformed into mesoporous silica nanoparticles. Our novel hybrid systems, which are exceptionally stable under harsh irradiation and thermal stress environments, show a bright white emission with a record photoluminescence quantum yield. Their remarkable performance prompted us to implement them into single-component hybrid light-emitting diodes (HLEDs), achieving a high-quality sunlight source that is stable for >2000 hours with linearly extrapolated stabilities of >10 000 h. This represents one of the most stable HLEDs reported so far, while the versatility of our synthesis approach with respect to the type of emitters opens new opportunities for the design and fabrication of white-emitting color down-converters for HLEDs in the future.C. E., E. L. and J. R. B acknowledge Spanish MINECO and AEI/FEDER (ref. CTQ2016-78463-P). C. E. also thanks Universidad de La Rioja for a grant. E. F. and R.D.C. acknowledge the program “Ayudas para la atracción de talento investigador – Modalidad 1 of the Consejería de Educación, Juventud y Deporte – Comunidad de Madrid with the reference number 2016-T1/IND-1463”. R. D. C. acknowledges Spanish MINECO for the Ramón y Cajal program (RYC-2016-20891). J.G.M. acknowledges Spanish MINECO and AEI/FEDER (ref. CTQ2014-60017-R). E.S. thanks Spanish MINECO and AEI/FEDER (ref. CTQ2015-74494-JIN) and the University of Alicante (“Ayudas para la captación de talento” program with the reference number UATALENTO16-03)