About the Infinite Repetition of Histories in Space

This paper analyzes two different proposals, one by Ellis and Brundrit, based on classical relativistic cosmology, the other by Garriga and Vilenkin, based on the DH interpretation of quantum mechanics, both of which conclude that, in an infinite universe, planets and living beings must be repeated an infinite number of times. We point to some possible shortcomings in the arguments of these authors. We conclude that the idea of an infinite repetition of histories in space cannot be considered strictly speaking a consequence of current physics and cosmology. Such ideas should be seen rather as examples of {\guillemotleft}ironic science{\guillemotright} in the terminology of John Horgan.Comment: 14 pages, no figures. Accepted for publication in slightly different form at THEORIA (http://www.ehu.es/ojs/index.php/THEORIA

Bullying in students belonging to immigrant families in Primary Schools

Ponencia de 6th International Conference on Intercultural Education “Education and Health: From a transcultural perspective”The bullying has affected many educational systems. The scientific community has studied the phenomenon and has developed many studies attempting to explain their etiology and operation. Administrations have developed policy and legislative initiatives, to sort out this need and social problems. This paper tries to investigate the bullying phenomenon in Andalusia. Students who are immigrants and who are in the 4th level of Elementary Education, do not know the Spanish language The study took data from Andalusian students who participated in the 2011 edition of the PIRLS assessment (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study). This evaluation has involved more than 4300 students in 150 selected schools. The data are about the level of reading comprehension. Previously, their mother tongues have been identified. The results show a higher rate of bullying in immigrant students than in the rest of the population, a lower yield. However the results don’t imply that the student had been victims of bullying. There is a need to sort out these problems and we must continue investigating them in order to understand and provide solution

Buyer-supplier relationships influence on traceability implementation in the vegetable industry

The increasing importance of food safety has made traceability a crucial issue in the agri-business industry. In this article, we have analysed the factors that shape the buyer-supplier relationships, and how they influence the traceability of raw materials. In order to do so, first, we have made a literature review to develop an analytical framework. Next, we have carried out four case studies on vegetable firms with the purpose of uncovering the variables that characterise buyer-supplier relationships, and its influence on traceability in this sector. Finally, we have compared the observed links with the conceptual framework derived from the literature in order to build and improved model

Lagging behind versus advancing too fast? identifying gaps research in supply chain

The objective of our work is to analyze the evolution and actual trends of research in Supply Chain Management (SCM). We pretend to show how the different topics have been methodologically studied, and to determine how the advent of the so-called 'New Economy' has influenced SCM research. To get this objective, we carry out a literature review of twelve refereed journals in the Operations Management (OM) area for the period 1995-2001. Statistical tools are used to analyze the obtained information

Environmental operations strategies: European approaches and research challenges

Since the environment has very recently emerged as a strategic issue, work has only begun to investigate the conceptual linkages between strategic management and the environment. A thoroughly revision of both academic and professional literature evidences that such scarcity of research doubles, or even trebles, when the scenery of the European Operations Management Strategies is considered. The main objective of this paper is, therefore, to discuss the impact of the design of the environmental management strategy on the formulation of the Operations Strategy and its implementation. Since the majority of the literature has neglected to focus the European approaches to such formulation, we will try to overcome this gap by analysing a sample of 2882 European companies

An integrated typology of green manufacturing profiles

This article proposes a typology to classify the Environmental Operations Strategies that the European Companies develop in order to adapt themselves to the requests of their green stakeholders. First, main research lines in Environmental Operations Management are analyzed; second, a typology based on the coherency of different variables that have been considered separately by other authors is presented and validated for a sample of 3051 European manufacturing companies. The results show that European manufacturers have not achieved yet similar levels of integration of the environmental concern into all managerial functions with the aim of reaching a sustainable balance between economic and ecological performance of the firm. Consequently, conventional typologies looking at different environmental criteria in a piecemeal fashion seem to be no longer valid for explanatory and/or decision making purposes

Performance Measurement Systems, Competitive Priorities, and Advanced Manufacturing Technologies: Some Evidence from the Aeronautical Sector

Purpose – When acquiring advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT), the greatest caution should be taken regarding the performance measurement system to be used: the decision regarding new investments should not be conditioned by the excessive use of financial indicators to the detriment of the strategic objectives that motivated the investments. It is intended to analyze the aeronautical sector, for which the purchase of AMT is qualifying criteria, with two intentions: first, to identify the performance measurement systems that are used, and second, to test their correspondence with the objectives that motivated the investments. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of the 20 plants in the population was conducted via a postal questionnaire plus a structured interview. The unit of analysis has been maintained through the triangulation of data sources. Findings – The findings suggest that both financial and non-financial indicators are used, with the latter gaining predominance over the former on some occasions, even though there is no clear correspondence between strategy and the measurement of performance. In the light of the findings, the question of what inspires a company’s performance measurement system is still open, especially in those cases where there is no explicit strategy. With regard to practical implications, what seems to be indispensable is an improvement in the determination of the critical variables that should be used to measure performance. Research limitations/implications – Being valuable for academics and practitioners, this contribution relies, rather, on the possibility of a logical extrapolation to circumstances where the findings might apply, and researchers can judge whether the particular findings would be valid. Originality/value – Provides new evidence on the adaptation of the make-up and combination of the type of performance measures currently used by plants in the aeronautical industry, one of the sectors in which technological innovation is of the utmost importance.Publicad