La cooperación en proyectos tecnológicos, ¿qué queda por hacer? Una aproximación desde el enfoque estratégico

This article discusses from a strategic point of view the role of technological cooperation in manufacturing and services Spanish firms. The data used come from the Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC, 2012). The results show that SMEs are reluctant to cooperation and that the purpose of the agreements is to solve problems and operational barriers such as innovation costs and lack of financing, among others. The difficulty in finding partners is also a determining factor in establishing technology cooperation agreements

Technological cooperation: A new type of relations in the progress of national innovation systems

This paper analyzes the cooperative model as a trend towards new types or relations within National Innovation Systems. Based on the review of the evolution of the national innovations systems and the analysis of the meaning of cooperation in the technological field, we expose that a cooperative innovation system model fulfill the ultimate objective of satisfying the technological requirements of companies so that they may face up to the demand of present and future markets with greater chances of success

Alliance-building Process as Inhibiting Factor for SME International Alliances

This study examines how the alliance-building process affects the intention to enter into international alliances in the case of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). From a psychological perspective (Perceived Behavioural Control), the authors analyse the alliance-building process as an inhibitor of the international collaboration intention, considering to what extent the experience affects the intention of the partners involved. The study explores these hypotheses based on a sample of 220 Spanish SMEs. The results provide empirical evidence showing that the intention to develop international alliances is negatively affected by the search and the selection process as well as by the negotiation of the agreement, which reduces the intention to establish an international agreement. In addition, the intention is moderated by the experience of the SME manager. Moreover, there is a negative relationship between the extent of the SME manager's international experience and the intention to develop an international alliance

Factors affecting social interaction on Social Network Sites: The Facebook Case

Purpose - Our paper focuses on understanding which factors affect the social interaction in the case of Facebook. Many authors point out the great potential of these networks for social interaction and as conduits of information. However, studies show that the topology of the network is disconnected, consisting of small sub-networks that make Facebook unsuitable for disseminating information. This situation has created the need to introduce exogenous factors, aimed at boosting and providing cohesion to the network structure. In this context, we test the following question: how exogenous and endogenous factors contribute to encouraging social interaction on Facebook. Design/methodology/approach - For the analysis of social interaction on Facebook, a population consisting of all the followers of the walls of 10 corporate social networks was used. From the total 269,424 users analysed, a stratified sample of 132 followers was obtained and networks were built for each of them. We then proceeded to search for each follower's friends and friends of friends to build the social network up to the fourth level, obtaining a total of 132 subnets with 1,628,074 links between them. To determine the impact of both exogenous and endogenous factors in the interaction of the network we performed a causal analysis. Findings - The results obtained from this study provide empirical evidence on the adequacy of companies? dynamization measures used and how exogenous and endogenous factors influence the social interaction on Facebook. Thus, our results show that exogenous factors, such as the activity of the community manager and the digital marketing investment in the network, do not have a significant effect on the interaction. On the other hand, endogenous factors, such as network density and clustering, have a positive effect on the trigger of social interaction between the followers. Therefore, companies must consider the importance of the structural factors that characterize network followers, such as density or clustering coefficient, to be able to interpret and optimize them to obtain higher levels of social interaction. Originality/value - This is one of a few papers that examine interactions in social network sites, particularly in corporate network sites in Facebook. The results expose the importance for organizations to have reliable information on the patterns of interaction to properly manage the resources allocated for this purpose in SNS

R&D partnerships: An exploratory approach to the role of structural variables in joint project performance

Traditionally the literature on partnership has focused on understanding why firms choose to cooperate and with whom, however, our understanding of the impact of the resulting network structure on the performance of the project is limited. This study builds on joint R&D projects developed in Europe in order to analyse certain structural variables ? number and typology of partners, and intensity and density of interactions in the network ? which may result in a greater performance of exploration and exploitation R&D projects. Findings show that these structural variables are good predictors of project performance; in particular, the joint performance function in exploration projects is positively dependent on the number of partners; however, in exploitation projects this function depends positively on the density and intensity of interactions, and negatively on the number of partners. Our results complement previous research while adding empirical evidence on the nonlinear and contingent character of structural variables and the performance of joint projects

The development of the enterprising motivation in tourism students. A comparative analysis between grade and postgraduate students

Increasing the number of entrepreneurs and the quality of the entrepreneurship, it is the key thing because its positive influences over the economic activity. For this reason, it turns out essential to understand the factors that determine this phenomenon. This paper develops a model that includes those factors which allows acting on the enterprising intention of the students in the field of tourism. It has been decided on a theoretical approach based on the basics of the intentional theory from a perspective of higher education. A survey with a sample of 122 tourism students has been used ? including both graduates and students. Our analysis suggests that curricular and extracurricular activities have a different effect in the intentions, attitudes and capacities for the business? project development. On the other hand, our results show a weak impact of these activities in the business? competences

Mitochondria and the NLRP3 Inflammasome in Alcoholic and Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

Alcoholic (ASH) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are advanced stages of fatty liver disease and two of the most prevalent forms of chronic liver disease. ASH and NASH are associated with significant risk of further progression to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of liver cancer, and a major cause of cancer-related mortality. Despite extensive research and progress in the last decades to elucidate the mechanisms of the development of ASH and NASH, the pathogenesis of both diseases is still poorly understood. Mitochondrial damage and activation of inflammasome complexes have a role in inducing and sustaining liver damage. Mitochondrial dysfunction produces inflammatory factors that activate the inflammasome complexes. NLRP3 inflammasome (nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3) is a multiprotein complex that activates caspase 1 and the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-1? (IL-1?) and interleukin-18 (IL-18), and contributes to inflammatory pyroptotic cell death. The present review, which is part of the issue "Mitochondria in Liver Pathobiology", provides an overview of the role of mitochondrial dysfunction and NLRP3 activation in ASH and NASH

Myristic acid potentiates palmitic acid-induced lipotoxicity and steatohepatitis associated with lipodystrophy by sustaning de novo ceramide synthesis.

Palmitic acid (PA) induces hepatocyte apoptosis and fuels de novo ceramide synthesis in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Myristic acid (MA), a free fatty acid highly abundant in copra/palmist oils, is a predictor of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and stimulates ceramide synthesis. Here we investigated the synergism between MA and PA in ceramide synthesis, ER stress, lipotoxicity and NASH. Unlike PA, MA is not lipotoxic but potentiated PA-mediated lipoapoptosis, ER stress, caspase-3 activation and cytochrome c release in primary mouse hepatocytes (PMH). Moreover, MA kinetically sustained PA-induced total ceramide content by stimulating dehydroceramide desaturase and switched the ceramide profile from decreased to increased ceramide 14:0/ceramide16:0, without changing medium and long-chain ceramide species. PMH were more sensitive to equimolar ceramide14:0/ceramide16:0 exposure, which mimics the outcome of PA plus MA treatment on ceramide homeostasis, than to either ceramide alone. Treatment with myriocin to inhibit ceramide synthesis and tauroursodeoxycholic acid to prevent ER stress ameliorated PA plus MA induced apoptosis, similar to the protection afforded by the antioxidant BHA, the pan-caspase inhibitor z-VAD-Fmk and JNK inhibition. Moreover, ruthenium red protected PMH against PA and MA-induced cell death. Recapitulating in vitro findings, mice fed a diet enriched in PA plus MA exhibited lipodystrophy, hepatosplenomegaly, increased liver ceramide content and cholesterol levels, ER stress, liver damage, inflammation and fibrosis compared to mice fed diets enriched in PA or MA alone. The deleterious effects of PA plus MA-enriched diet were largely prevented by in vivo myriocin treatment. These findings indicate a causal link between ceramide synthesis and ER stress in lipotoxicity, and imply that the consumption of diets enriched in MA and PA can cause NASH associated with lipodystrophy