Terra Delyssa : a visual heritage to triumph in contemporary markets

Terra Delyssa is a leading exporter brand of olive oil in Tunisia, indeed it represents 20% of Tunisian total exports. This case presents the strategies and the actions implemented by this company to achieve this position. The focus of this study is to introduce a marketing strategy tool that aims to revitalize a brand, through the Terra Delyssa case. The marketing strategy is the new design of the product‟s packaging. Since its creation, this olive oil brand never found necessary to refresh its visual identity, until 2011 when the company decided to penetrate the European Market. To give itself the best possible odds, Terra Delyssa took the challenging decision to operate its first change: modernize the brand. Mr. Abdelaziz Makhloufi the CEO believes that the new packaging will reinforce the brand image, differentiate the product, and give a competitive advantage to Terra Delyssa. For the sake of understanding this rebranding strategy and its effectiveness; it is essential to gather primary and secondary data. Primary data were collected through an online survey to assess the perception and the awareness of consumers using a sample of Portuguese and Tunisian individuals. Secondary data is mainly provided by the company officials. The survey results indicate that the sample perceives positively the change of Terra Delyssa. However, the company should support this strategy with more communication action in order to attain its goal to be in the top 10 olive oil brand in the world by 2020.Terra Delyssa é uma marca de azeite tunisina líder no mercado de exportação, representando 20% do total de exportações da Tunísia. Este trabalho apresenta as estratégias e acções implementadas por esta empresa para atingir esta posição de sucesso.esta posição de sucesso. O objectivo deste estudo é dar a conhecer uma ferramenta de marketing estratégica que permita revitalizar uma marca, neste caso a Terra Delyssa. A estratégia de marketing em causa é o novo design da embalagem do produto. Desde que foi criada, esta marca de azeite nunca sentiu necessidade de reinventar a sua identidade visual, até 2011, ano em que decidiu entrar no Mercado Europeu. Para maximizar a possibilidade de sucesso, a Terra Delyssa decidiu fazer a sua primeira mudança: modernizar a marca. Mr. Abdelaziz Makhloufi, CEO, acredita que uma nova embalagem reafirmará a imagem da marca, diferenciará o produto e dará uma vantagem competitiva a Terra Delyssa. Para entender esta estratégia de rebranding e a sua eficácia, é necessário recolher dados primários e secundários. Os dados primários foram recolhidos através de um questionário online, feito a uma amostra de indivíduos portugueses e tunisinos, e que pretendia avaliar a percepção e consciência dos consumidores. Os dados secundários foram disponibilizados pela empresa. Os resultados do questionário indicam que a amostra encara positivamente a alteração da Terra Delyssa. Contudo, a empresa deverá consolidar esta estratégia com mais acções de comunicação, para atingir o seu objectivo de integrar o top 10 mundial de marcas de azeite em 2020

Linear maps preserving the minimum and surjectivity moduli of Hilbert space operators

AbstractLet B(H) be the algebra of all bounded linear operators on a complex infinite-dimensional Hilbert space H. For every T∈B(H), let m(T) and q(T) denote the minimum modulus and surjectivity modulus of T respectively. Let ϕ:B(H)→B(H) be a surjective linear map. In this paper, we prove that the following assertions are equivalent:(i)m(T)=m(ϕ(T)) for all T∈B(H),(ii)q(T)=q(ϕ(T)) for all T∈B(H),(iii)there exist two unitary operators U,V∈B(H) such that ϕ(T)=UTV for all T∈B(H). This generalizes the result of Mbekhta [7, Theorem 3.1] to the non-unital case

Evaluation Of BMPs Scenarios For Minimizing Phosphorus And Sediments Transport In Sprinkler Irrigation System

Simulation models are useful tools to quantify the effects of best management practices (BMPs). After SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) adaptation and calibration for intensive irrigated watershed, it has been used to evaluate the impact of several (BMPs) on water yield (WYLD), total suspended sediment (TSS), organic P (ORG_P), soluble P (SOL_P), and total P (TP) at the outlet of the Del Reguero stream watershed (Spain). Economic impacts of the BMPs on crop gross margin were also evaluated. In total, 6 individual scenarios and 14 combinations of various management practices including tillage (conservation and no-tillage), fertilizer (incorporated, recommended, and zero), and irrigation (adjusted to crop needs) were been tested. Results indicate that the best individuals BMPs (adjusted irrigation water use BMP) reduced WYLD to 31.4%, TSS loads 33.5%, and TP loads to 12.8%, in comparison of the initial conditions. When individual BMPs were combined, the percentage reductions of losses were increased. The BMPs combination between optimum irrigation application, conservation tillage and reduced P fertilizer dose was the best analysed one with a TP loads reduction about 22.6%. For corn and alfalfa, the best BMP scenario was the combination between conservation tillage and reduced P fertilizer dose, reaching an increase of gross margin by 309 € ha-1and 188 € ha-1, respectively. While for sunflower and barley, the best scenario was the combination between irrigation adjustment, conservation tillage and reduced P fertilizer dose. The increase of gross margin under this BMP was about 171 € ha-1and 307 € ha-1, respectively.Publishe

Irrigation return flows and phosphorus transport in the Middle Ebro River Valley (Spain)

Currently, there is an increased interest in the study of phosphorus (P) loss from soils aimed to understand and mitigate water eutrophication problems. The main objective of this study is to describe P losses in five irrigated agricultural watersheds considered as representative in terms of agricultural water management. Weekly water samples were collected during the 2007 hydrologic year (HY) at the watershed outlets and three P forms (total P, TP; total dissolved P, TDP; and particulate P, PP) were analyzed during irrigation (IS) and non-irrigation season (NIS). The P load per hectare was used to compare the study areas with other non-irrigated agricultural watersheds in Spain and Europe. Results indicate that most of the study areas showed increases in TP at higher flows. Annual TP concentrations were higher than the critical eutrophication threshold (0.02 mg L�1), with TDP being the dominant fraction. The TP was higher during the IS than during the NIS, except for the Arba River where seasonal TP concentration showed the highest values (0.237 and 0.275 mg L�1, respectively). Results also show that average TP yield (0.73 kg P ha�1 year�1) was higher than others reported on non-irrigated agricultural lands in Spain and Europe. This work is of great relevance and indispensable for guiding future research on P transfer aimed at establishing corrective measures to sustain irrigated agricultural productivity and surface water quality

Essential g-ascent and g-descent of a closed linear relation in Hilbert spaces

We define and discuss for a closed linear relation in a Hilbert space the notions of essential g-ascent (resp. g-descent) and g-ascent (resp. g-descent) spectrums. We improve in the Hilbert space case some results given by E. Chafai in a Banach space [Acta Mathematica Sinica, 34 B, 1212-1224, 2014] and several results related to the ascent (resp. essential ascent) spectrum for a bounded linear operator on a Banach space [Studia Math, 187, 59-73, 2008] are extended to closed linear relations on Hilbert spaces. We prove also a decomposition theorem for closed linear relations with finite essential g-ascent or g-descent.This work is supported by the Higher Education And Scientific Research In Tunisia, UR11ES52: Analyse, Géométrie et ApplicationspeerReviewe

Evaluation of best management practices under intensive irrigation using SWAT model

39 Pags., 8 Tabls., 3 Figs. The definitive version is available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03783774Land management practices such as conservation tillage and optimum irrigation are routinely used to reduce non-point source pollution and improve water quality. The calibrated and validated SWAT-IRRIG model is the first modified SWAT version that reproduces well the irrigation return flows (IRF) when the irrigation source is outside of the watershed. The application of this SWAT version in intensive irrigated systems permits to better evaluate the best management practices (BMPs) in such systems. This paper evaluates several BMPs on IRF, total suspended sediment (TSS), organic P (ORG_P), soluble P (SOL_P), and total P (TP) at the outlet Del Reguero stream watershed (Spain). Economic impacts of the BMPs on crop gross margin were also evaluated. In total, 20 BMPs scenarios were tested. The BMPs proposed considered tillage (conservation and no-tillage), fertilizer application (incorporated, recommended, and reduced), and irrigation (adjusted to crop needs). The measured data series corresponding to 2008 and 2009 years were considered to estimate IRF, TSS, ORG_P, SOL_P and TP losses as a reference to assess the effects of the considered BMPs. The results indicate that the best individual BMP (adjusted irrigation water use) reduced IRF by 31.4%, TSS loads by 33.5% and TP loads by 12.8%. When individual BMPs were combined, the load reductions were even increased. The BMP scenario combining optimum irrigation application, conservation tillage and reduced P fertilizer dose was the best, leading to a TP load reduction of about 22.6%. For corn and alfalfa, the best BMP scenario was the combination between conservation tillage and reduced P fertilizer dose, increasing the crop gross margin by 309 € ha−1 and 188 € ha−1, respectively. For sunflower and barley, the best scenario combined the adjusted irrigation water use, conservation tillage and reduced P fertilizer dose (gross margin increase of 171 € ha−1 and 307 € ha−1, respectively).This work has been financed by La Caixa, the General Community of Alto Aragon Irrigation Districts and the Spanish National Research Plan I+D+i (project AGL2010-21681-C03-03). We thank the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA) for awarding Ahmed Skhiri a predoctoral fellowshipPeer reviewe

Towards a Standards-Based Cloud Service Manager

Migrating services to the cloud brings all the benefits of elasticity, scalability and cost-cutting. However, migrating services among different cloud infrastructures or outside of the cloud is not an obvious task. In addition, distributing services among multiple cloud providers, or on a hybrid installation requires a custom implementation effort that must be repeated at each infrastructure change. This situation raises the lock-in problem and discourages cloud adoption. Cloud computing open standards were designed to face this situation and to bring interoperability and portability to cloud environments. However, they target isolated resources, and do not take into account the notion of complete services. In this paper, we introduce an extension to OCCI, a cloud computing open standard, in order to support complete service definition and management automation. We support this proposal with an open-source framework for service management through compliant cloud infrastructures.Peer reviewe

Graph BI & analytics: current state and future challenges

In an increasingly competitive market, making well-informed decisions requires the analysis of a wide range of heterogeneous, large and complex data. This paper focuses on the emerging field of graph warehousing. Graphs are widespread structures that yield a great expressive power. They are used for modeling highly complex and interconnected domains, and efficiently solving emerging big data application. This paper presents the current status and open challenges of graph BI and analytics, and motivates the need for new warehousing frameworks aware of the topological nature of graphs. We survey the topics of graph modeling, management, processing and analysis in graph warehouses. Then we conclude by discussing future research directions and positioning them within a unified architecture of a graph BI and analytics framework.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

De la difficulté des enfants dysphasiques à décoder des émotions de base : éclairages sur un syndrome méconnu

On évoque souvent des difficultés à interagir socialement chez les enfants ayant une dysphasie. Ces difficultés sont généralement attribuées aux troubles du langage, mais elles pourraient aussi provenir d’un problème à décoder les émotions des autres. Le but de la présente recherche est d’explorer cette voie chez les enfants dysphasiques de 9 à 12 ans. Différents stimuli émotionnels leur ont été présentés sous forme de vidéos ainsi qu’à des enfants d’un groupe contrôle selon cinq conditions : parole non filtrée, parole filtrée, visage dynamique, visage dynamique accompagné de la parole non filtrée, et visage dynamique avec parole filtrée. Les enfants dysphasiques et les enfants du groupe contrôle ne se comportent pas différemment de manière significative en fonction des émotions présentées et des conditions testées. Par contre, un sous-groupe d’enfants ayant une dysphasie mixte commet significativement plus d’erreurs pour l’ensemble de la tâche que le sous-groupe d’enfants sans dysphasie de même âge chronologique. En fait une part seulement des enfants dysphasiques mixtes ont des scores plus faibles. Ces mêmes enfants présentent un QI non verbal faible tandis que leur compréhension du langage est équivalente à celle de leur sous-groupe (enfants dysphasiques mixtes). Malgré ces différences significatives, les scores des enfants dysphasiques mixtes restent relativement élevés et les difficultés observées sont subtiles. Sur le plan clinique, les praticiens (orthophonistes, psychologues, éducateur) devront systématiser l’évaluation des habiletés de décodage des émotions chez l’enfant dysphasique dont les difficultés ne sont pas forcément évidentes dans la vie quotidienne. La recherche devra développer un outil de dépistage sensible aux troubles de décodage émotionnel et des stratégies thérapeutiques adaptées.Children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) can have social problems that are often explained by their language disorders. However, the ability to identify other people’s emotions could be caused by their emotion processing difficulties. We explore this question in children with SLI aged 9 to 12 years old. Children with and without SLI were tested on five emotional stimuli presented in dynamic video and audio format: unfiltered speech, filtered speech, facial expressions, facial expressions with unfiltered speech, and facial expressions with filtered speech. The children with impaired language do not differ significantly from the unimpaired children across all modalities and emotions. However, a subgroup of SLI children with mixed (expressive-receptive) delay commits more errors on the task than their age-matched peers. In fact only a subgroup of these children shows lower scores. These same children also show low IQ scores but language comprehension as good as their subgroup. Despite these significant differences the mixed SLI group’s scores are quite high, showing that deficits are subtle. Clinical implications of this study militate for a systematization of the evaluation by health practitioners of these abilities in children with SLI who might not show obvious signs of deficits in this domain in their everyday activities. Research should pursue the development of a sensitive evaluation tool to identify emotional decoding difficulties and should evaluate therapeutic strategies adapted to this population

Contribution of immigrant teachers to the promotion of multicultural education in Finnish schools

The thesis deals with the contribution of immigrant teachers to the promotion of multicultural education in Finnish elementary and lower-secondary schools. The purpose of this research was to find out how immigrant teachers can contribute to the promotion of multicultural education in Finnish schools. The work aims to discover what could be the appropriate environment to facilitate the contribution of immigrant teachers to promoting multicultural teaching and learning in Finnish schools. The thesis presents a qualitative research study carried in Finland during the school year 2015-2016. The research data were collected through a questionnaire and group interviews in the frame of theme interviews. Eighteen immigrant teachers participated in providing information for this research work. The interviewees were originally from nine countries: Spain, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Estonia, Mexico, China, and Senegal/Finland, and they represented different schools from twelve cities in Southern, Central, and Eastern Finland. At the time of the research, immigrant teachers were participating in a continuing education program for immigrant teachers at a Finnish university. The data analysis was conducted via content analysis, which focused on the understanding, explanation, and interpretation of the information provided by the immigrant teachers. Research results indicate that the immigrant teachers are motivated and willing to participate in the promotion of multicultural education in Finnish schools provided that there is a convenient and an adequate environment to facilitate their integration in the school communities. The integration of immigrant teachers depends primarily on the teachers own initiatives to adapt to the Finnish school environment and the education system; however, it is also the responsibility of the Finnish school staff members to facilitate the integration of immigrant teachers in the school communities. Research results indicate also that immigrant teachers have gained professional skills and intercultural competence along their work experiences. They are confident about their abilities to assume other responsibilities at school; however, their employment conditions remain insecure and unfavourable for their participation as active members in promoting multicultural education in their workplace. Immigrant teachers should be treated as regular schoolteachers in order to contribute effectively to the education of immigrant pupils and to the promotion of multicultural learning for all school pupils. The promotion of multicultural education should be considered as a shared task between educators, policy makers, and all members of the school communities including immigrants, and should be based on intercultural cooperation between immigrants and the Finnish community, respecting shared values of tolerance, mutual respect, and appreciation of cultural differences. The contribution of immigrant teachers to promoting multicultural education is a participation to the promotion of the well-being of immigrants and the Finnish community in multicultural schools and overall in the Finnish multicultural society