Relationship and Network Approach to Innovation and Capabilities Building in Small and Medium-Sized UK Organic Food and Drink Suppliers: A Literature Review

Both business and consumer markets of food and drink are increasingly changing, concomitant with changing consumer habits and lifestyles. Particularly in industrialised countries, there has been a tremendous growth in consumer interest for organic food in the last fifteen years, largely driven by the need for healthy food. These market changes have implications for the way firms in the food and drink industry conduct their business. Nevertheless, unlike large firms, small suppliers tend to be constrained in terms of innovations and capabilities, for instance to enable them keep pace with market changes. Based on the literature review, this paper develops a framework that suggests that market-driven innovations may be developed and implemented through augmentation of small and medium-sized suppliers’ (SMEs) own capabilities with those of their larger customers. This consequently would enable SMEs to keep pace with market changes and hence sustain their survival

Power and the Production of Science. Assessing Cod Stocks as the Mechanistic Fishery Collapses

This paper discusses power relations in the production of knowledge claims and the validation of management strategies. The experience of doing stock assessment science and creating management plans for Canada’s east coast cod fishery illustrates this general process. We demonstrate that the cyborgization of fisheries-management is limited by its inability to produce power for stabilizing the relations between managers, fishers, technology and fish. Lack of stability forces scientists and managers either to ignore a threat or to intervene by changing their strategy. Consensus is unlikely. Scientists and managers must reconsider reasons for action or lack of it, thus producing a new rationality. Managers attempt to control that reconstruction process in the interests of resolving shortterm challenges. Some scientists resist change and protect their earlier positions against new evidence or re-interpretations. The winning rationality has more to do with the power of the claimant than with the quality of reasoning

Shot Noise Limited Ultrafast Spectroscopy of Magnetic Thin Films Using Extreme Ultraviolet Light

High harmonic generation makes it possible to measure the fastest spin and charge dynamics in materials on femtosecond to attosecond timescales. However, the extreme nonlinear nature of the high harmonic process means that intensity fluctuations can limit measurement sensitivity. In this work, I present a noise-cancelled, tabletop high harmonic beamline for time-resolved reflection mode spectroscopy of magnetic materials. I use a reference spectrometer to independently normalize the intensity fluctuations of each harmonic order and also eliminate long term drift, which allows us to make spectroscopic measurements near the shot noise limit. These improvements allow us to significantly reduce the integration time required for high signal-to-noise (SNR) measurements of element-specific spin dynamics. I also present time- and element-resolved measurements of the spin dynamics of two half-metallic Heusler compounds, NiMnSb and Co2MnGa. I show that we can directly control the spin dynamics of these materials with optical pulses due to their unique band structures, enabling the transfer of magnetization from one element to another. These results demonstrate our ability to precisely manipulate the magnetization of complex materials on femtosecond timescales. Looking forward, improvements in EUV flux, optical coatings, and grating design can further reduce the acquisition time for high SNR measurements by an additional 1-2 orders of magnitude, enabling dramatically improved sensitivity to spin, charge and phonon dynamics in multilayer and alloyed magnetic materials.</p

Seasonality shapes the amplitude of vole population dynamics rather than generalist predators

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Implementing Goal Setting Activities with LD Adolescents

This research was published by the KU Center for Research on Learning, formerly known as the University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities.In this study, LD adolescents were taught to set realistic goals, to expend effort to achieve the goals, and to accept responsibility for achieving or failing to achieve their goals. The intervention produced a significant increase in the number of students exhibiting realistic goal setting strategies. During training, LD students produced a significantly greater number of effort attributions than ability, task difficulty, or luck attributions. The treatment group also increased internal attributions

The Interaction Effect Between Previous Stroke and Hip Fracture on Postoperative Mortality:A Nationwide Cohort Study

PURPOSE: It remains uncertain how a history of stroke impacts the prognosis for patients with hip fracture. This study aimed to evaluate mortality following hip fracture surgery by comparing patients with and without a history of stroke. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All patients aged 65 years or above in Denmark receiving hip fracture surgery between 2010 and 2018. For every patient, 10 individuals from the general population without hip fracture were sampled. Comparators had a similar stroke history, age, and sex on the date of hip fracture surgery (index date). We established four cohorts: hip fracture patients with/without stroke and non-hip fracture patients with/without stroke. Outcomes were all-cause mortality at 0–30 days, 31–365 days and 1 to 5 years. Direct standardized mortality rates (MR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed. We calculated the interaction contrast to estimate excess absolute mortality among patients with both hip fracture and stroke. Through a Cox proportional hazards model, we estimated the hazard ratio (HR) and the attributable proportion as a measure of excess relative mortality attributable to interaction. RESULTS: Of the hip fracture patients, 8433 had a stroke history and 44,997 did not. Of the non-hip fracture patients, 84,330 had a stroke history and 449,962 did not. Corresponding 30-day MRs/100 person years were 148.4 (95% CI: 138.8–158.7), 124.3 (95% CI: 120.7–128.1), 14.3 (95% CI: 13.4–15.2) and 8.4 (95% CI: 8.1–8.7). The interaction contrast was 18.2 (95% CI: 7.5–28.8), and the attributable proportion was 9.0% (95% CI: 2.9–15.1). No interaction was present beyond 30 days. CONCLUSION: We observed excess short-term mortality in patients with stroke and hip fracture, but the effect disappeared at later follow-up periods. Clinicians are encouraged to pay rigorous attention to early complications among hip fracture patients with stroke, as this may serve as a way to reduce mortality