The export competitiveness of social economy enterprises. The case of southern Spain

This work was performed in order to quantify the export competitiveness of internationalised Social Economy enterprises. To achieve this objective, we have quantified the strengths and weaknesses of the sector and first applied Rasch’s logistic model to measure the latent variable called export competitiveness. This is defined by the following items: size, cooperation, number of target markets, competitive advantages, years abroad and percentage of sales abroad. The article presents empirical evidence of 121 Andalusian Social Economy enterprises. The results show the export competitiveness of social enterprises reflected in a standard type of organisation with identified strengths: number of destination markets and competitive advantage

International trade competitiveness of andalusian agrifood activities 2006-2014

En un mundo cada vez más globalizado, mirar al exterior se convierte en una salida para una economía que encuentra su mercado interior mermado por la crisis económica. Andalucía no ha sido una excepción y ha puesto su mirada en los mercados exteriores ante el colapso del interior durante el periodo de crisis. Dado que el sector agroalimentario andaluz es uno de los más destacados de su economía, el presente artículo tiene como objetivo principal conocer el comportamiento de las exportaciones agroalimentarias andaluzas en relación con la UE-28 para el periodo 2006-2014. Para ello hemos tratado de descubrir el comportamiento de los sectores exportadores agroalimentarios intra y extra-UE (capítulos arancelarios 1 al 24), en función de su especialización exportadora y de su carácter competitivo o dinámico según la técnica shift–share; comprobando su relación con la cuota de mercado. Para alcanzar dicho objetivo hemos aplicado la técnica del análisis de los desplazamientos o análisis shift–share, y hallado la especialización y las cuotas de mercado. Sabiendo que toda agregación disminuye el conocimiento y el detalle, hemos desagregado cuatro capítulos arancelarios hasta los cuatro dígitos, lo que nos ha permitido un conocimiento más detallado de cada uno de dichos sectores, comprobando, que, al desagregar, nos encontramos con subsectores cuyo comportamiento individual puede presentar diferencias más o menos importantes respecto al sector agregado. En definitiva, un análisis de las exportaciones agroalimentarias andaluzas como el realizado nos permite mejorar el conocimiento del sector y, en consecuencia, poder detectar las fortalezas y debilidades del mismo.In an increasingly globalized world, looking out becomes a way out for an economy that its domestic market has been eroded by the economic crisis. Andalusia hasn’t been an exception and set its sights on foreign markets due to the collapse of its interior one during the crisis.Since the Andalusian agro-food sector is one of the highlights of its economy, this article's aim is "To know the behavior of Andalusian agro-food exports in relation to the EU-28 for 2006-2014 period". To do that we've tried to find out the behavior of EU and non-EU agrifood export sectors (tariff chapters 1 to 24), depending on their export specialization and its competitive and dynamic character using the “shift–share” technique; checking their relationship with the market share. To achieve that goal we applied the analysis of displacement technique or shift–share analysis, and found the expertise and market shares. Knowing that any aggregation reduces the knowledge and the detail, we have unbundled four tariff chapters to four digits, which has allowed us a detailed knowledge of each of those sectors, verifying that, by breaking down, there are subsectors whose Individual behavior may have differences, more or less significant, in the aggregate sector. In short, an analysis of the Andalusian agro-food exports like the one done allows us to improve the knowledge about the sector and thus to be able to detect that the strengths and weaknesses

Tratamiento administrativo y penal del consumo de alcohol y otras drogas en la conducción de vehículos

El 20% de los conductores fallecidos en España en 2009 obtuvo resultados positivos en los análisis de consumo de alcohol o drogas. La conducción bajo los efectos de estas sustancias altera signifi cativamente el rendimiento psicomotor y la conducta del que maneja un vehículo, lo que incrementa de manera notable las posibilidades de sufrir un siniestro de tráfi co. La actual legislación de tráfi co -entre otros factores- ha tenido una fuerte incidencia en la disminución del número de muertos durante los últimos diez años, siendo esta reducción del 56% (Dirección General de Tráfi co, 2009). Aquellos conductores que cometen infracciones o delitos contra la seguridad vial participan en acciones sensibilizadoras y reeducadoras donde se trabajan los factores de riesgo implicados en los siniestros de tráfi co. Dos ejemplos claros de estas acciones son el 'Programa de Intervención, Sensibilización y Reeducación Vial (INCOVIA)' y el 'Taller de Actividades para el cumplimiento de trabajos en benefi cio de la comunidad relacionados con la Seguridad Vial (TASEVAL)' (Montoro, Escamilla, Lijarcio, Martí-Belda y Puchades, 2010). Pese a los resultados positivos obtenidos hasta la fecha, es necesario promover estrategias que fomenten la formación y la sensibilización de todos los sectores de la población en el ámbito de la seguridad vial, ya que la formación junto con la educación es una de las claves fundamentales hacia el cambio actitudinal que mejorará la cultura y concienciación vial.20% of dead drivers in 2009 in Spain had positive results in the analyses of alcohol or drug ingestion. Driving under the effects of these substances signifi cantly alters behavior and psychomotor driver performance and increases road risk considerably. Current traffi c laws -among other factors- have had a major impact on reducing the number of deaths over the past ten years, dropping by 56% (Dirección General de Tráfi co, 2009). Drivers who commit offenses or crimes against road safety receive specifi c training related to the risk factors which increase the probability of having an accident. Two examples are the 'Intervention, Awareness and Re-education Program (INCOVIA)' and the 'Workshop Activities for community works related to Road Safety (TASEVAL)' (Montoro, Escamilla, Lijarcio, Martí-Belda y Puchades, 2010). Despite the positive results achieved so far, there is a need to promote strategies focused on training and awareness-raising in the area of road safety for all population sectors. Training and education are fundamental keys for attitudinal change that will improve road safety awareness and culture

Corrigendum: From Vineyard Soil to Wine Fermentation: Microbiome Approximations to Explain the “terroir” Concept

In the original article, there was an error in the Conflict of Interest statement. The correct version appears below. The authors apologize for this error and state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of the article in any way

From Vineyard Soil to Wine Fermentation: Microbiome Approximations to Explain the “terroir” Concept

Wine originally emerged as a serendipitous mix of chemistry and biology, where microorganisms played a decisive role. From these ancient fermentations to the current monitored industrial processes, winegrowers and winemakers have been continuously changing their practices according to scientific knowledge and advances. A new enology direction is emerging and aiming to blend the complexity of spontaneous fermentations with industrial safety of monitored fermentations. In this context, wines with distinctive autochthonous peculiarities have a great acceptance among consumers, causing important economic returns. The concept of terroir, far from being a rural term, conceals a wide range of analytical parameters that are the basis of the knowledge-based enology trend. In this sense, the biological aspect of soils has been underestimated for years, when actually it contains a great microbial diversity. This soil-associated microbiota has been described as determinant, not only for the chemistry and nutritional properties of soils, but also for health, yield, and quality of the grapevine. Additionally, recent works describe the soil microbiome as the reservoir of the grapevine associated microbiota, and as a contributor to the final sensory properties of wines. To understand the crucial roles of microorganisms on the entire wine making process, we must understand their ecological niches, population dynamics, and relationships between ‘microbiome- vine health’ and ‘microbiome-wine metabolome.’ These are critical steps for designing precision enology practices. For that purpose, current metagenomic techniques are expanding from laboratories, to the food industry. This review focuses on the current knowledge about vine and wine microbiomes, with emphasis on their biological roles and the technical basis of next-generation sequencing pipelines. An overview of molecular and informatics tools is included and new directions are proposed, highlighting the importance of –omics technologies in wine research and industry

From Vineyard Soil to Wine Fermentation: Microbiome Approximations to Explain the “terroir” Concept

Wine originally emerged as a serendipitous mix of chemistry and biology, where microorganisms played a decisive role. From these ancient fermentations to the current monitored industrial processes, winegrowers and winemakers have been continuously changing their practices according to scientific knowledge and advances. A new enology direction is emerging and aiming to blend the complexity of spontaneous fermentations with industrial safety of monitored fermentations. In this context, wines with distinctive autochthonous peculiarities have a great acceptance among consumers, causing important economic returns. The concept of terroir, far from being a rural term, conceals a wide range of analytical parameters that are the basis of the knowledge-based enology trend. In this sense, the biological aspect of soils has been underestimated for years, when actually it contains a great microbial diversity. This soil-associated microbiota has been described as determinant, not only for the chemistry and nutritional properties of soils, but also for health, yield, and quality of the grapevine. Additionally, recent works describe the soil microbiome as the reservoir of the grapevine associated microbiota, and as a contributor to the final sensory properties of wines. To understand the crucial roles of microorganisms on the entire wine making process, we must understand their ecological niches, population dynamics, and relationships between ‘microbiome- vine health’ and ‘microbiome-wine metabolome.’ These are critical steps for designing precision enology practices. For that purpose, current metagenomic techniques are expanding from laboratories, to the food industry. This review focuses on the current knowledge about vine and wine microbiomes, with emphasis on their biological roles and the technical basis of next-generation sequencing pipelines. An overview of molecular and informatics tools is included and new directions are proposed, highlighting the importance of –omics technologies in wine research and industry

Savana: Re-using Electronic Health Records with Artificial Intelligence

Health information grows exponentially (doubling every 5 years), thus generating a sort of inflation of science, i.e. the generation of more knowledge than we can leverage. In an unprecedented data-driven shift, today doctors have no longer time to keep updated. This fact explains why only one in every five medical decisions is based strictly on evidence, which inevitably leads to variability. A good solution lies on clinical decision support systems, based on big data analysis. As the processing of large amounts of information gains relevance, automatic approaches become increasingly capable to see and correlate information further and better than the human mind can. In this context, healthcare professionals are increasingly counting on a new set of tools in order to deal with the growing information that becomes available to them on a daily basis. By allowing the grouping of collective knowledge and prioritizing “mindlines” against “guidelines”, these support systems are among the most promising applications of big data in health. In this demo paper we introduce Savana, an AI-enabled system based on Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Neural Networks, capable of, for instance, the automatic expansion of medical terminologies, thus enabling the re-use of information expressed in natural language in clinical reports. This automatized and precise digital extraction allows the generation of a real time information engine, which is currently being deployed in healthcare institutions, as well as clinical research and management

La competitividad internacional de la economía andaluza y sus sectores exportadores

En un mundo cada vez más globalizado, el sector exterior tiene cada vez más importancia para las economías, y la andaluza no es una excepción. Esta investigación se plantea como objetivo general conocer el comportamiento de las exportaciones andaluzas entre 2006 y 2013 según las bases en las que se asienta su evolución en el territorio y en relación a sus empresas. Para lograr este objetivo, se probó el comportamiento de las exportaciones de mercancías (capítulos arancelarios) andaluzas en términos absolutos y relativos respecto a la UE-28. A continuación, se trata de descubrir el comportamiento competitivo y/o dinámico de los sectores exportadores (capítulos arancelarios) aplicando la técnica shift-share, relacionando los resultados con la cuota de mercado, así como el grado de especialización exportadora de cada sector respecto a la UE-28. Por otro lado, se comprobó el papel desempeñado por las empresas en dicho proceso exportador. Las principales averiguaciones indican que durante el periodo analizado las exportaciones andaluzas crecieron en términos absolutos y relativos. Este incremento fue posible gracias al proceso de internacionalización del sector empresarial andaluz que incluye un aumento importante del número de empresas exportadoras y de mercados. Y como última conclusión, este crecimiento se debe, sobre todo, al comportamiento de once sectores exportadores que fueron, a la vez de ser dinámicos y competitivos, sectores en los que Andalucía está especializadaIn globalization, the foreign sector is increasingly important for economies, and the Andalusian economy is not an exception. The objective of this research was to know the behavior of Andalusian exports between 2006 and 2013, based on their evolution in the territory, and in relation to their companies and their competitive strategies. In order to achieve this objective, the behavior of exports of Andalusian goods (tariff chapters) in absolute and relative terms for the EU28, and to a lesser extent Spain. Then, it was tried to define the behavior of the export sectors (tariff chapters) according to a competitive or dynamic behavior based on the shift-share technique, verifying its relation with the market share as well as the degree of export specialization of each sector with respect to the European. On the other hand, the role played by the companies in this export process is verified. The main findings indicate that during the analyzed period Andalusian exports grew in absolute and relative terms. This increase was made possible by the process of internationalization of the Andalusian business sector, which includes a significant increase in the number of exporting companies and markets. And lastly, this growth is due, above all, to the behavior of eleven export sectors that were, at the same time of being dynamic and competitive, sectors in which Andalusia is specialize

Influence of the size of tourmaline particles applied on polyester fabric on the release of negative ions

[EN] There are some scientific papers that verify that the generation of negative ions in the air have positive consequences on people's mood and health. In this work is intended to increase the generation of negative ions from polyester fabrics to achieve an increase in well-being and comfort through the realize of negative ions. To improve the negative ion release ability on different substrates there have been many studies which have considered silicates as a good particle with these characteristics. Polyester fabrics were treated using padding system with different tourmaline microparticles in order to modify the surface behavior when rubbed and demonstrating that it is possible to modify the number of negative ions generated. Two types of tourmaline microparticles with different size particles, 3 and 30 m, were studied and applied on the samples with and without an acrylic resin to get a better fixation. To determine the quantity of negative ions released, an ion counter was used, testing each sample. Finally, the results were studied, analyzing the different parameters that influence them, as the concentration, the addition of resin or the kind of the particle. The best results were obtained with the Tourmaline with 30 m at 50 g/L concentration and without the addition of the acrylic resin.Authors would like to acknowledge the financial support given by Spanish Ministry of Science, innovation and universities under the RETOS DE LA INVESTIGACIÓN, I+D+i ORIENTADA A LOS RETOS DE LA SOCIEDAD program on the 2018 call, because of the project reference RTI2018-094014-B-I0.Mira, C.; Díaz-García, P.; Montava-Seguí, I.; Gisbert Paya, J.; Bou-Belda, E. (2020). Influence of the size of tourmaline particles applied on polyester fabric on the release of negative ions. Annals of the University of Oradea: Fascicle of Textiles, Leatherwork. 21(2):53-56. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/165359S535621