Productivity and Quality-Environmental Changes in Marketing Co-operatives: An Analysis on the Horticultural Sector

The object of the present paper is to analyse productivity incorporating quality-environmental changes in marketing co-operatives. Firstly, it reviews competitiveness factors in the current European agri-food market, especially in relation to the fruit and vegetables sector. Secondly, the productivity trend is studied empirically using nonparametric methods (Malmquist indices) and taking as reference panel data of Andalusian horticultural co-operatives for the period 1994-2001. For this purpose productivity is decomposed into technological change, efficiency and quality-environmental change. Additionally, the correlation of these results with other economic variables is analysed. The indicators obtained show a relevant increase in efficiency for the period under study and a high relationship between the results and product quality-environmental improvement.productivity, quality-environment, efficiency, marketing co-operative, horticultural sector, Agribusiness, Productivity Analysis, D24, Q13, Q21, L15,

Productivity and Environmental Performance in Marketing Cooperatives: Incentive Schemes on the Horticultural Sector

The object of the present paper is to analyze the productivity of marketing cooperatives incorporating environmental inputs/outputs. In the European agricultural policy, expectations for attaining sustainable and competitive agriculture lie to a great extent on the cooperative sector's ability to adapt to the new market conditions. These challenges have led marketing cooperatives in the fruit and vegetables sector to consider improvement in productivity and sound environmental performance. In this sector environmental management was intensified by the Common Agrarian Policy (CAP) through incentives on the so-called Operative Programs (OP). The present study analyses the total factor productivity (TFP) related to environmental variables in this sector using a parametric-stochastic approach and taking as reference a panel data of Spanish cooperatives for the period 1994-2002. Additionally, the determinants of productivity environmental indices are examined econ ometrically. The estimates obtained show a relevant increase in the efficiency component for the period under study and a relatively low impact of incentive schemes. However, they also show a relationship between productivity changes and several management factors in cooperatives, such as labor quality, capital intensity and environmental spillover.Productivity, environmental performance, parametric approach, efficiency, marketing cooperative, horticultural sector, Agribusiness, Environmental Economics and Policy, Productivity Analysis, D24, Q13, Q21, L15,

Environmental and Quality Improvement Practices: Their Analysis as Components of the Value Added in Horticultural Firms

This paper analyses the effect of environmental and quality improvement practices on the value added of the fruit and vegetable sector. These practices form part of the incentive-based programmes established by the Common Agricultural Policy. Taking the investment in quality-environmental activities as knowledge capital, we propose a specific analysis that evaluates the effect of the factors of the production function and of the current subsidies over the value added. In general, the share of quality environmental activities in the rise of the product's market value is quite high. The analysis reflects that the expenditure on these activities is still higher than their benefit, and that the current subsidies can hardly be considered encouraging factors for the development of the above-mentioned practices.Quality-environmental practices, investment incentives, horticultural firms, value added, Environmental Economics and Policy,

A hierarchical scheduling model for component-based real-time systems

In this paper, we propose a methodology for developing component-based real-time systems based on the concept of hierarchical scheduling. Recently, much work has been devoted to the schedulability analysis of hierarchical scheduling systems, in which real-time tasks are grouped into components, and it is possible to specify a different scheduling policy for each component. Until now, only independent components have been considered. In this paper, we extend this model to tasks that interact through remote procedure calls. We introduce the concept of abstract computing platform on which each component is executed. Then, we transform the system specification into a set of real-time transactions and present a schedulability analysis algorithm. Our analysis is a generalization of the holistic analysis to the case of abstract computing platforms. We demonstrate the use of our methodology on a simple example

Implantación Jira

Este TFG se centra en el desarrollo de una aplicación web que permite a los usuarios comunicar peticiones/incidencias. El proyecto se ha realizado en la empresa Grupo Catalana Occidente y se puede comprender como una segunda fase de implantación de la herramienta JIRA en la compañía

The Role of Snow-Related Environmental Variables in Plant Conservation Plans in the Mediterranean Mountains

This study aims to analyze the effects that snow cover may have on the survival of one-year-old seedlings from 15 different taxa in the Mediterranean high mountains (Sierra Nevada National Park, SE Spain) in order to have clearer criteria for the planning and management of restoration efforts in these environments. Additionally, the influence of variables that have been scarcely explored up to now is also revised. We use the survival rates of the seedlings observed from the ecological restoration trial as reference values. The survival data analyzed are based on six variables to evaluate their effects. The results confirm that the permanence of snow is a favorable factor for seedlings, independent of the plant community. Contrastingly, a specific type of foundation (stones and rocks) stands out for being clearly unfavorable, regardless of other variables. For both altitude and solar radiation, a worsening of the survival ratio has been observed as they increase. The species’ geographic ranges are all shown to be unfavorable for taxa of a boreo-alpine distribution. Finally, the plant community does not have a significant influence on the survival of seedlings. These results provide novel indications to improve the results of the first stages of restoration work in the Mediterranean high mountains. They are also valuable for the management and cataloging of threatened flora, as well as having direct applications in recovery plans and protection lists.EAFRD (exp. 701/2010/M/00) fundsERDF (exp. 980/2007/M/00) fund

ISO 9000/1994, ISO 9001/2000 and TQM: The performance debate revisited

The debate about the impact of ISO 9000/1994 on performance has been waging since its inception. While there is a general agreement regarding the positive impact of TQM on performance, there has been less agreement among the academics about the impact of ISO 9000/1994. Perhaps in response to such debate, the new ISO 9001/2000 has appeared purporting to be more in line with the TQM philosophy. As of now, how this 2000 version actually affects performance is yet to be explored. In this study, we compare the implementation of ISO 9000/1994 and ISO 9001/2000 as representing two different efforts to implement quality management practices. We evaluate its impact on company performance with a sample of 713 Spanish industrial companies. We also examine if the 2000 version of ISO is taking us closer to the implementation of TQM. Further, we depart from the past studies methodologically by considering performance as a formative construct rather than a reflective construct. Based on the mean and covariance structural (MACS) analyses, we conclude that ISO 9001/2000 certified companies do not perform noticeably better than ISO 9000/1994 or non-certified companies. However, we find that ISO 9001/2000 certified companies apply TQM at a higher level than ISO 9000/1994 certified companies, but whether they actually perform better is less clear.We would like to thank the Fundacio ́nSe ́neca andFundacio ́n Cajamurcia for financial support. We alsoacknowledge two anonymous referees and the associateeditor for valuable comments and insight

Intention-to-treat survival analysis of HCV/HIV co-infected liver transplant: Is it the waiting list?

In human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfected patients, the accelerated severity of liver disease, associated comorbidities, and mortality on the waiting list could change the possibility and results of liver transplantation (LT). Intention-to-treat survival analysis (ITTA) can accurately estimate the applicability and efficacy of LT. The primary objective of this study was to compare the survival of patients with HCV with and without HIV infection. We analyzed a cohort of 199 patients with HCV infection enrolled for LT between 1998 and 2015; 17 were also infected with HIV. The patients with HCV/HIV coinfection had higher mortality on the waiting list than those with HCV monoinfection (35.3% versus 4.6%; P¿¿70 years (hazard ratio [HR]¿=¿3.12; P¿<¿0.05), United Network for Organ Sharing status 1 (HR¿=¿10.1; P¿<¿0.01), Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (HR¿=¿1.13; P¿<¿0.001), and HIV coinfection (HR¿=¿2.65; P¿<¿0.05) had independent negative predictive value for survival. In conclusion, our study indicates that HIV coinfection is a factor in mortality prior to transplantation and associated with higher mortality on the waiting list

Dynamic Jahn-Teller effect in electron transport through single C60 molecules

Scanning tunneling spectra on single C60 molecules that are sufficiently decoupled from the substrate exhibit a characteristic fine structure, which is explained as due to the dynamic Jahn-Teller effect. Using electron-phonon couplings extracted from density functional theory we calculate the tunneling spectrum through the C60- anionic state and find excellent agreement with measured data.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Publisher Correction : Real space manifestations of coherent screening in atomic scale Kondo lattices

Aquesta és una correcció a l'article 10.1038/s41467-019-10103-