Science and technology parks as innovation intermediaries for green innovation

Author's accepted version (postprint).This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Springer in Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering on 18/08/2020.Available online: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-48021-9_101This paper discusses how science and technology parks (STPs) act as intermediaries for projects regarding green innovation. The empirical evidence is gathered through a case study of the City of Knowledge in Panama. For the recent Panama channel’s expansion, local authorities faced the need to improve the water resource management to secure enough fresh water for the canal’s operation. We inductively analysed data from 24 interviews, documents and participant observer. Preliminary results show the intermediation of STPs in green innovation processes in three phases: a first intermediation process is the STP as a hub for knowledge generation, including training for entrepreneurship. A second stage of the park as an innovation intermediary regards to an arena for knowledge and technology transfer, including collaboration with universities. A third phase implies financing and brokerage of green innovation between local and global actors. Our results challenge the existing literature about STPs with a narrow focus on economic spillover effects, or as hubs for attracting and developing cutting-edge technological innovations.acceptedVersio

Effects of UV-B radiation on the structural and physiological diversity of bacterioneuston and bacterioplankton

The effects of UV radiation (UVR) on estuarine bacterioneuston and bacterioplankton were assessed in microcosm experiments. Bacterial abundance and DNA synthesis were more affected in bacterioplankton. Protein synthesis was more inhibited in bacterioneuston. Community analysis indicated that UVR has the potential to select resistant bacteria (e.g., Gammaproteobacteria), particularly abundant in bacterioneuston

10 Years of C-K Theory: A Survey on the Academic and Industrial Impacts of a Design Theory.

The goal of our research1 was to understand what is expected today from a design theory and what types of impact such type of scientific proposition may reach. To answer these questions with a grounded approach we chosed to study the developement of C-K theory as phenomenon per se that can inform our research work. C-K theory is clearly recognized as a design theory and it is a good representative of the level of generality and abstraction of contemporary design theory. Indeed, the validity of the theory as such has already been documented (e.g. Hatchuel & Weil 2002, 2003, 2008, 2009; Kazakçi 2009; Reich et al 2010; Le Masson et al 2010; Ullah et al 2012). Instead the current work sets out to understand the dissemination and the impact of the theory in both academic and industrial fields. The data collection overlooks the literature on C-K theory in English and in French, and includes interviews and feedbacks of students and industrial partners who applied C-K methodologies and tools. This research confirms the rapid diffusion and multiples impact of C-K theory. Beyond, such study signals that there are important expectations and potential impacts of a Design Theory within the field of knowledge at large. However there are strong conditions to meet these expectations: generality, generativity, and relatedness to contemporary sciences. A similar research could be done on Nam Suh's axiomatic approach to further test these conditions. It is impossible to say what will be the next generations of Design theory but it is sure that they should progress on these directions

Aquarium Nitrification Revisited: Thaumarchaeota Are the Dominant Ammonia Oxidizers in Freshwater Aquarium Biofilters

Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) outnumber ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in many terrestrial and aquatic environments. Although nitrification is the primary function of aquarium biofilters, very few studies have investigated the microorganisms responsible for this process in aquaria. This study used quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) to quantify the ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) and 16S rRNA genes of Bacteria and Thaumarchaeota in freshwater aquarium biofilters, in addition to assessing the diversity of AOA amoA genes by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and clone libraries. AOA were numerically dominant in 23 of 27 freshwater biofilters, and in 12 of these biofilters AOA contributed all detectable amoA genes. Eight saltwater aquaria and two commercial aquarium nitrifier supplements were included for comparison. Both thaumarchaeal and bacterial amoA genes were detected in all saltwater samples, with AOA genes outnumbering AOB genes in five of eight biofilters. Bacterial amoA genes were abundant in both supplements, but thaumarchaeal amoA and 16S rRNA genes could not be detected. For freshwater aquaria, the proportion of amoA genes from AOA relative to AOB was inversely correlated with ammonium concentration. DGGE of AOA amoA genes revealed variable diversity across samples, with nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) indicating separation of freshwater and saltwater fingerprints. Composite clone libraries of AOA amoA genes revealed distinct freshwater and saltwater clusters, as well as mixed clusters containing both freshwater and saltwater amoA gene sequences. These results reveal insight into commonplace residential biofilters and suggest that aquarium biofilters may represent valuable biofilm microcosms for future studies of AOA ecology

Bacterial diversity and community composition from seasurface to subseafloor

© The International Society for Microbial Ecology, 2015. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in ISME Journal 10 (2016): 979–989, doi:10.1038/ismej.2015.175.We investigated compositional relationships between bacterial communities in the water column and those in deep-sea sediment at three environmentally distinct Pacific sites (two in the Equatorial Pacific and one in the North Pacific Gyre). Through pyrosequencing of the v4–v6 hypervariable regions of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene, we characterized 450 104 pyrotags representing 29 814 operational taxonomic units (OTUs, 97% similarity). Hierarchical clustering and non-metric multidimensional scaling partition the samples into four broad groups, regardless of geographic location: a photic-zone community, a subphotic community, a shallow sedimentary community and a subseafloor sedimentary community (greater than or equal to1.5 meters below seafloor). Abundance-weighted community compositions of water-column samples exhibit a similar trend with depth at all sites, with successive epipelagic, mesopelagic, bathypelagic and abyssopelagic communities. Taxonomic richness is generally highest in the water-column O2 minimum zone and lowest in the subseafloor sediment. OTUs represented by abundant tags in the subseafloor sediment are often present but represented by few tags in the water column, and represented by moderately abundant tags in the shallow sediment. In contrast, OTUs represented by abundant tags in the water are generally absent from the subseafloor sediment. These results are consistent with (i) dispersal of marine sedimentary bacteria via the ocean, and (ii) selection of the subseafloor sedimentary community from within the community present in shallow sediment.This study was funded by the Biological Oceanography Program of the US National Science Foundation (grant OCE-0752336) and by the NSF-funded Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (grant NSF-OCE-0939564)

Global diversity and biogeography of deep-sea pelagic prokaryotes

The deep-sea is the largest biome of the biosphere, and contains more than half of the whole ocean/'s microbes. Uncovering their general patterns of diversity and community structure at a global scale remains a great challenge, as only fragmentary information of deep-sea microbial diversity exists based on regional-scale studies. Here we report the first globally comprehensive survey of the prokaryotic communities inhabiting the bathypelagic ocean using high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. This work identifies the dominant prokaryotes in the pelagic deep ocean and reveals that 50{\%} of the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belong to previously unknown prokaryotic taxa, most of which are rare and appear in just a few samples. We show that whereas the local richness of communities is comparable to that observed in previous regional studies, the global pool of prokaryotic taxa detected is modest (\~{}3600 OTUs), as a high proportion of OTUs are shared among samples. The water masses appear to act as clear drivers of the geographical distribution of both particle-attached and free-living prokaryotes. In addition, we show that the deep-oceanic basins in which the bathypelagic realm is divided contain different particle-attached (but not free-living) microbial communities. The combination of the aging of the water masses and a lack of complete dispersal are identified as the main drivers for this biogeographical pattern. All together, we identify the potential of the deep ocean as a reservoir of still unknown biological diversity with a higher degree of spatial complexity than hitherto considered.En prensa8,951

Armand Hatchuel and the Refoundation of Management Research: Design Theory and the Epistemology of Collective Action

International audienceArmand Hatchuel's work marks a turning point in management research and paves the way for a refoundation of management science. Hatchuel's research deals with organizational metabolism rather than organizational change, as he is concerned with the drivers of change and with the organization of innovative collective action. Several theoretical milestones can be put forward. First, Hatchuel offers a theory of the cognitive processes of generativity: while decision theory targets optimization by supporting the selection of a solution, " C-K theory " is a design theory. It accounts for the generation of new alternatives by expanding what is known, this process being driven by desirable unknowns. This theory has provided the theoretical cornerstone characterizing the rationality and organization of innovative or design-oriented collective action. Second, in Hatchuel's view, learning and organizational dynamics are tightly bound. Learning processes are hosted and supported by social relationships, which, in turn, are shaped by the distribution of knowledge. Hatchuel proposes a theory of collective action whereby knowledge and relationships are involved in a dynamic interplay: this theory shows that both markets and hierarchies are special and highly unstable forms of organization, because they imply that either knowledge or relationships are frozen. Management scholars contribute to the study of gener-ative forms of collective action: Hatchuel argues that management science, far from being applied economics or applied sociology, is a basic science devoted to the design and study of new models of collective action. He therefore opens up promising avenues for programs on post-decision paradigms and creative institutions