Towards an appropriate comprehension of innovation sources in agrifood cooperatives

The existing typologies of innovation sources rely on classification criterions which are excessively generalist and developed under the consideration of private owned organisations. The present paper seeks to shed light on the special structural and operative features of agrifood cooperatives demanding a more comprehensive classification of innovation sources. A sample from the agrifood cooperative industry was selected as the scenario of the empirical research. Findings reveal a classification proposal of innovation sources into four differentiated groups (managers, technology, market and normative context) with regard to the management orientation of change (strategic vs. technical/legal) and the strength motivating the innovation (internal vs. external).Agrifood cooperatives, innovation sources, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q13.,

Effects of a Low -Protein Diet Supplemented With Coated and Uncoated Methionine on Methionine Metabolism in the Tilapia Oreochromis Niloticus.

Crude protein is the most expensive macronutrient, the use of plant proteins and crystalline amino acid supplementation is the next logical step to increase nutritional value of plant-based diets. The goal of this experiment was to determine the effect of coated and uncoated crystalline methionine on growth, body composition, and methionine uptake in Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus fed methionine supplements. Two experiments were designed for this purpose: one to study the effect of supplementation on weight gain and body composition, and a second to determine the effect of coating on absorption efficiency and utilization of crystalline methionine. Five isonitrogenous (26% CP), isocaloric (2420 kcal g of protein), purified diets were created by supplementing a methionine (Met) deficient basal diet (MD) at 50% of the dietary requirement. All five diets contained methionine from intact protein and four diets also were supplemented with crystalline methionine at a level of 0.29% (as fed). One diet (CM) was supplemented with crystalline methionine. Another (KCM) contained 0.29% kappa-carrageenan microbound methionine. A third (TM) contained 0.29% microencapsulated tripalmitin methionine, and the final diet (CAP) contained 0.29% cellulose-acetate-phthalate microcoated methionine. In the second experiment diets CM, KCM, and TM were used to determine the effect of coating on Met absorption efficiency and utilization. Each diet contained 7.4 Bq (200 muCi) of labeled 35S-methionine. No significant differences in weight gain, feed conversion ratio, protein efficiency ratio and feed consumption were detected among fish fed the experimental diets. Fillet protein of CAP-fed fish was significantly lower than that from fish fed the other four diets. Tissue lipid content was similar among fish fed MD, CM, KCM. CAP-fed fish showed plasma free-methionine concentrations significantly higher at 6 h after feeding, than fish fed the other diets. Uptake of 35S was significantly higher among fish fed CM and CAP than among fish fed TM. Results suggest that uptake of crystalline methionine was unaffected by coating with CAP, while TM coatings significantly reduced absorption of crystalline methionine relative to uncoated Met. More effective coatings might be used to increase the efficiency of utilization of crystalline methionine in prepared tilapia diets

Learning sequences of rules using classifier systems with tags

IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics. Tokyo, 12-15 October 1999.The objective of this paper was to obtain an encoding structure that would allow the genetic evolution of rules in such a manner that the number of rules and relationship in a classifier system (CS) would be learnt in the evolution process. For this purpose, an area that allows the definition of rule groups has been entered into the condition and message part of the encoded rules. This area is called internal tag. This term was coined because the system has some similarities with natural processes that take place in certain animal species, where the existence of tags allows them to communicate and recognize each other. Such CS is called a tag classifier system (TCS). The TCS has been tested in the game of draughts and compared with the classical CS. The results show an improving of the CS performance

Applying classifier systems to learn the reactions in mobile robots

The navigation problem involves how to reach a goal avoiding obstacles in dynamic environments. This problem can be faced considering reactions and sequences of actions. Classifier systems (CSs) have proven their ability of continuous learning, however, they have some problems in reactive systems. A modified CS, namely a reactive classifier system (RCS), is proposed to overcome those problems. Two special mechanisms are included in the RCS: the non-existence of internal cycles inside the CS (no internal cycles) and the fusion of environmental message with the messages posted to the message list in the previous instant (generation list through fusion). These mechanisms allow the learning of both reactions and sequences of actions. This learning process involves two main tasks: first, discriminate between rules and, second, the discovery of new rules to obtain a successful operation in dynamic environments. DiVerent experiments have been carried out using a mini-robot Khepera to find a generalized solution. The results show the ability of the system for continuous learning and adaptation to new situations.Publicad

RTCS: a reactive with tags classifier system

In this work, a new Classifier System is proposed (CS). The system, a Reactive with Tags Classifier System (RTCS), is able to take into account environmental situations in intermediate decisions. CSs are special production systems, where conditions and actions are codified in order to learn new rules by means of Genetic Algorithms (GA). The RTCS has been designed to generate sequences of actions like the traditional classifier systems, but RTCS also has the capability of chaining rules among different time instants and reacting to new environmental situations, considering the last environmental situation to take a decision. In addition to the capability to react and generate sequences of actions, the design of a new rule codification allows the evolution of groups of specialized rules. This new codification is based on the inclusion of several bits, named tags, in conditions and actions, which evolve by means of GA. RTCS has been tested in robotic navigation. Results show the suitability of this approximation to the navigation problem and the coherence of tag values in rules classification.Publicad

Knowledge acquisition including tags in a classifier system

Congress on Evolutionary Computation. Washington, DC, 6-9 July 1999.One of the major problems related to classifier systems is the loss of rules. This loss is caused by the genetic algorithm being applied on the entire population of rules jointly. Obviously, the genetic operators discriminate rules by the strength value, such that evolution favours the generation of the stronger rules. When the learning system works in an environment in which it is possible to generate a complete training set, the strength of the rules of the CS will reflect the relative relationship between rules satisfactorily and, therefore, the application of the genetic algorithm will produce the desired effects. However, when the learning process presents individual cases and allows the system to learn gradually from these cases, each learning interval with a set of individual cases can lead the strength to be distributed in favour of a given type of rules that would in turn be favoured by the genetic algorithm. Basically, the idea is to divide rules into groups such that they are forced to remain in the system. This contribution is a method of learning that allows similar knowledge to be grouped. A field in which knowledge-based systems researchers have done a lot of work is concept classification and the relationships that are established between these concepts in the stage of knowledge conceptualization for later formalization. This job of classifying and searching relationships is performed in the proposed classifier systems by means of a mechanism. Tags, that allows the classification and the relationships to be discovered without the need for expert knowledge

Reactive with tags classifier system applied to real robot navigation

7th IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation. Barcelona, 18-21 October 1999.A reactive with tags classifier system (RTCS) is a special classifier system. This system combines the execution capabilities of symbolic systems and the learning capabilities of genetic algorithms. A RTCS is able to learn symbolic rules that allow to generate sequence of actions, chaining rules among different time instants, and react to new environmental situations, considering the last environmental situation to take a decision. The capacity of RTCS to learn good rules has been prove in robotics navigation problem. Results show the suitability of this approximation to the navigation problem and the coherence of extracted rules

Choice of law in Latin American arbitration: some empirical evidence and reflections on the Latin American market for contracts

El objetivo de este artículo es evaluar las preferencias de las partes que participan en transacciones comerciales latinoamericanas cuando eligen el derecho que ha de regir sus contratos. Para ese propósito, los autores han conducido un análisis empírico de datos que pudieron ser obtenidos de instituciones de arbitraje activas en Latinoamérica, enfocado en los años 2011 y 2012. Asimismo, ofrecen algunas reflexiones sobre los resultados y evalúan si pueden ser explicados por la visión territorial de los conflictos de leyes en Latinoamérica, la importancia de Estados Unidos como socio comercial de los países latinoamericanos y el grado de presencia de abogados angloamericanos en los mercados latinoamericanos. El estudio fue publicado originalmete en Thémis-Revista de Derecho edición 77, en agosto 2020, y se intitula Choice of Law in Latin American Arbitration: some empirical evidence and reflections on the Latin American Market for Contracts.The aim of this Article is to assess the preferences of parties to Latin American international business transactions when they choose the law governing their contracts. For that purpose, the authors have conducted an empirical analysis of data that they were able to gather from arbitral instiutions active in Latin America, with a focus on years 2011 and 2012. Furthermore they offer some reflctions on the results and elaborate on whether they can be explained by the territorial approach of choice of law in Latin America, the importance of the United States as a trading partner for Latin American countries and the extent to which Anglo-American lawyers are present on Latin American markets.El estudio fue publicado originalmete en Thémis-Revista de Derecho edición 77, en agosto 2020, y se intitula Choice of Law in Latin American Arbitration: some empirical evidence and reflections on the Latin American Market for Contracts

Effects of Learning from Distributors on Manufacturers’ Exploitation and Exploration Innovation Strategies in Food and Beverages Industry

The relevance of innovation as source of competitive advantage is clearly justified in the literature (Adner and Kapoor, 2010; Song and Thieme, 2009). In particular, knowledge, as well as all items related to organizational learning, represents a main factor contributing to the innovation success (i.e., Song and Parry, 1997). In this sense, different authors have emphasized the importance that external sources of knowledge possess for the development and success of the innovation capability (Li and Tang, 2010; Spithoven et al., 2010).The globalization of manufacturing companies is closely linked to the globalization of distribution activities (Mattsson, 2003). It can be said that globalization of retailers drives globalization of manufacturing companies. So the latter will be influenced by the supply conditions of the target markets, the possibilities to supply new markets, or the possible threat to be replaced by alternative suppliers (Ruiz, 2000, Etemad, 2004).At the same time, supply chains have progressively become more international and complex (Monczka and Trent, 2005), representing principal sources of competitive advantage in terms of availability of technological and organizational competencies and access to minor operative costs (Pagano, 2009). The international supply tends increasingly to be considered as a strategic tool chasing to take advantage of the previous advantages. Consequently, organizations should promote this critical organizational relational capability (Kotabe and Murray, 2004)

¿Cómo interactúan los adolescentes con los videojuegos? Preferencias y habilidades performativas

Introducción. En este estudio se analiza la influencia de los videojuegos en procesos de socialización de adolescentes, en especial el desarrollo de hábitos de seguridad, dedicación y preferencias de uso de adolescentes españoles de 12 a 17 años. Metodología. Se ha empleado una metodología cuantitativa, de carácter descriptivo, a través del uso de un cuestionario creado ad hoc conformado por 13 ítems relacionados con videojuegos y uso de los medios. Resultados. Los principales resultados obtenidos muestran que los adolescentes españoles muestran una actitud de indiferencia en cuanto a la adopción de hábitos de seguridad en el consumo de videojuegos. Discusión y conclusiones. A modo de conclusión, se manifiesta que los chicos están más motivados en el uso de videojuegos que las chicas, lo que nos hace plantearnos las causas por las que se dan este tipo de preferencias en torno a los videojuegos, así como en el desarrollo de hábitos de seguridad en los mismos