The role of collaboration and external knowledge for innovation in small food firms

In this study, we use unique purpose-built survey data to show that small food firms are more innovative when externally engaged. To capture this, we apply a broad classification of innovative activities, including new products, processes, markets, organization, and distribution channels, and examine them against types of external interactions. The analysis, an ordered logit estimation, controls for heterogeneity across firms as well as geographic conditions. The results demonstrate a positive relationship between external interaction and firm innovation, though there are differences across types of external engagement and innovation activities. Product innovation benefits from knowledge from extra-regional firms, while several of the other forms of innovation show a positive relationship with support from regional and municipality boards. Additionally, firm collaboration regarding transports and sales enhances most types of innovation, but there are few relationships of benefit with research-intensive organizations. We conclude that, to be effective, innovation strategies of both the firms themselves and policymakers need to consider local context, access to intra- and extra-regional knowledge sources, and what types of innovation activities the firms are engaged in.

CONCERNING THE TERMS IN THE LEGAL FACTS SYSTEM OF CRIMINAL EXECUTIVE LAW AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION

В статье исследованы юридические факты-сроки, влияющие на функционирование уголовно-исполнительных правоотношений. Выделены признаки юридических фактов-сроков, а также обоснована их относительная самостоятельность в системе иных юридических фактов, зафиксированных в уголовно-исполнительном законодательстве. Например, на основе проведенного исследования автор статьи приходит к выводу, что сроки являются юридическими фактами относительного характера, потому что, с одной стороны, течение срока не подвластно воли человека, с другой - сроки устанавливаются человеком. Проведенный анализ юридических фактов-сроков позволил представить широкую классификацию указанных правовых явлений. Так, сроки, содержащиеся в уголовно-исполнительном праве, могут классифицироваться по следующим критериям: по юридическим (правовым) последствиям (правоизменяющие, правообразующие, правопрекращающие); обусловленные субъектом создания (находящиеся в причинной связи от позиции участников уголовно-исполнительных правоотношений и закрепленные в законе); зависимость от категории определенности (абсолютно определенные, неопределенные относительно, определенные); по источнику закрепления (закрепленные в УИК РФ; подзаконных, ведомственных и иных нормативных актах; материальные и процедурные сроки). Также в уголовно-исполнительном праве присутствуют материальные и процедурные (нематериальные) сроки. В содержании статьи представлен вывод о том, что большинство юридических фактов-сроков воздействуют на уголовно-исполнительные правоотношения только в рамках фактического состава. Однако, в исключительных случаях, рассматриваемые факты могут самостоятельно, вне границ фактического состава, оказывать концептуальное влияние на развитие исследуемых правоотношений. The article examines the legal facts-terms affecting the functioning of criminal-executive legal relations. The signs of legal facts-terms are highlighted, and their relative independence in the system of other legal facts contained in criminal executive law is justified. So, on the basis of the study, the author of the article concludes that the terms are a type of relative legal facts, since, on the one hand, the course of the term is not subject to the will of the person, but, on the other hand, the terms are set by the person. The analysis of legal facts-terms made it possible to present a broad classification of these legal phenomena. So, the terms contained in penal law can be classified on the following grounds: on legal consequences (law-making, law-changing, terminating); depending on the subject of creation (depending on the position of participants in criminal-executive legal relations and defined in the law); depending on the degree of certainty (absolutely certain, relatively certain and indefinite); by the source of the establishment (defined in the PEC of the Russian Federation; by-laws, departmental and other normative acts; material and procedural term. Also in criminal executive law there are substantive and procedural (intangible) terms. In the article, the author concludes that most legal facts-terms affect criminal-executive legal relations only within the actual composition. However, in exceptional cases, the facts in question can independently, outside the boundaries of the actual composition, have a conceptual impact on the development of the investigated legal relations.

Synaptic Properties and Plasticity Mechanisms of Invertebrate Tonic and Phasic Neurons

Defining neuronal cell types and their associated biophysical and synaptic diversity has become an important goal in neuroscience as a mechanism to create comprehensive brain cell atlases in the post-genomic age. Beyond broad classification such as neurotransmitter expression, interneuron vs. pyramidal, sensory or motor, the field is still in the early stages of understanding closely related cell types. In both vertebrate and invertebrate nervous systems, one well-described distinction related to firing characteristics and synaptic release properties are tonic and phasic neuronal subtypes. In vertebrates, these classes were defined based on sustained firing responses during stimulation (tonic) vs. transient responses that rapidly adapt (phasic). In crustaceans, the distinction expanded to include synaptic release properties, with tonic motoneurons displaying sustained firing and weaker synapses that undergo short-term facilitation to maintain muscle contraction and posture. In contrast, phasic motoneurons with stronger synapses showed rapid depression and were recruited for short bursts during fast locomotion. Tonic and phasic motoneurons with similarities to those in crustaceans have been characterized in Drosophila, allowing the genetic toolkit associated with this model to be used for dissecting the unique properties and plasticity mechanisms for these neuronal subtypes. This review outlines general properties of invertebrate tonic and phasic motoneurons and highlights recent advances that characterize distinct synaptic and plasticity pathways associated with two closely related glutamatergic neuronal cell types that drive invertebrate locomotion.

Relating the Land-Use Changes to the Invasion of Pneumatopteris afra in Nigeria Using Remote Sensing

The study aimed at using satellite remote sensing in identifying the land-use changes that have occurred in Lafia, Nigeria within the past 35 years, especially in relation to the current and the predicted future invasion of a fern (Pneumatopteris afra). Landsat satellite images OLI/TIRS, ETM+ and TM within the interval of 15 years from 1985 to 2020 were used for the extraction of land-use. Six broad classification systems were used to classify the land-use changes by employing a supervised classification technique. In 1985, the bare land dominated the land-use having an area of 69156 ha while the wetland was the least having an area of 3412 ha. However, in 2020, the built-up area has dominated the land-use of Lafia with an area of 144645 ha (52.21%) while the wetland still remained the least with area of 1477 ha. This is obviously due to the geometric increase in the urbanization of this city. There was a consistent loss of the forests from 1985 to 2020 with an annual rate of loss of 0.46%. This resulted in a loss of 44329 ha of forests in 2020 out of the 47643 ha in 1985. This approximately leads to a total loss of 172,732,045 USD of forest products. The current invasion of Pneumatopteris afra in Lafia was found to fall within the shrub and grasses land-use class. This indicates that the landsat satellite could not detect the wetlands where the plant dominated due to its massive covering. This study calls for immediate conservation of the remaining forests and wetlands in Lafia to prevent further encroachments and invasion by plants.

A Study of the Cloud Computing Adoption Issues and Challenges

<P>Background: The cloud computing is the modern trend in high-performance computing. Cloud computing becomes very popular due to its characteristic of available anywhere, elasticity, ease of use, cost-effectiveness, etc. Though the cloud grants various benefits, it has associated issues and challenges to prevent the organizations to adopt the cloud. </P><P> Objective: The objective of this paper is to cover the several perspectives of Cloud Computing. This includes a basic definition of cloud, classification of the cloud based on Delivery and Deployment Model. The broad classification of the issues and challenges faced by the organization to adopt the cloud computing model are explored. Examples for the broad classification are Data Related issues in the cloud, Service availability related issues in cloud, etc. The detailed sub-classifications of each of the issues and challenges discussed. The example sub-classification of the Data Related issues in cloud shall be further classified into Data Security issues, Data Integrity issue, Data location issue, Multitenancy issues, etc. This paper also covers the typical problem of vendor lock-in issue. This article analyzed and described the various possible unique insider attacks in the cloud environment. </P><P> Results: The guideline and recommendations for the different issues and challenges are discussed. The most importantly the potential research areas in the cloud domain are explored. </P><P> Conclusion: This paper discussed the details on cloud computing, classifications and the several issues and challenges faced in adopting the cloud. The guideline and recommendations for issues and challenges are covered. The potential research areas in the cloud domain are captured. This helps the researchers, academicians and industries to focus and address the current challenges faced by the customers.</P>

The analysis of living systems can generate both knowledge and illusions

Life relies on phenomena that range from changes in molecules that occur within nanoseconds to changes in populations that occur over millions of years. Researchers have developed a vast range of experimental techniques to analyze living systems, but a given technique usually only works over a limited range of length or time scales. Therefore, gaining a full understanding of a living system usually requires the integration of information obtained at multiple different scales by two or more techniques. This approach has undoubtedly led to a much better understanding of living systems but, equally, the staggering complexity of these systems, the sophistication and limitations of the techniques available in modern biology, and the need to use two or more techniques, can lead to persistent illusions of knowledge. Here, in an effort to make better use of the experimental techniques we have at our disposal, I propose a broad classification of techniques into six complementary approaches: perturbation, visualization, substitution, characterization, reconstitution, and simulation. Such a taxonomy might also help increase the reproducibility of inferences and improve peer review.

Economic impact of the creative industry and the example of Serbia

The creative industry plays an important role in the economic development of countries. Its role has been the topic of various studies, confirming not just the importance, but also the specifics of its operations and characteristics. Creative industry in Serbia is an important part of the economy. This paper creates additional value in terms of understanding its economic impact and shows that this sector in Serbia demonstrated evident growth in the analysed period, with the average increment rate of the number of entities being 6.2% when observing the narrow classification and 7.8% when observing the broad one. Having in mind the structure of the sector in Serbia, 73.8-77% of its participants are entrepreneurs, and 92-93% of the companies are micro firms. In addition to this, most of the creative industry firms are registered in the capital city. In the observed period, GVA of the creative industry's private sector increased by 64.9% in terms of the narrow classification, with average annual growth rate of 18.1%. The share of GVA in GDP of the creative industry when taking into account the broad classification is higher compared to certain traditional industries in Serbia, such as construction, and somewhat lower than the share the agriculture. This paper also analyses the employment structure in this sector and its impact on overall employment.

Characterization of Green Gram Genotypes for Qualitative Traits

Seventy-three accessions of green gram collected from different sources along with three controls were studied for 20 qualitative characters at National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), Regional Station, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, India during 2014–2015. Based on the plant growth pattern, green gram accessions were classified into determinate (10) and indeterminate (66). Based on pod color, the accessions were classified into brown (12) and black (64) colored pods. On the basis of seed luster, green gram accessions were grouped into dull (43) and shiny (33). Based on seed shape, green gram accessions exhibited diversity for seed shape, i.e., oval (43) and drum (33). Among the distinct morphological traits, seed luster may be used as an indicator in broad classification of genotypes into different groups rather than of individual genotype.

Energetics and Dynamics of Subtropical Australian East Coast Cyclones: Two Contrasting Cases

The subtropical east coast region of Australia is characterized by the frequent occurrence of low pressure systems, known as east coast lows (ECLs). The more intense ECLs can cause severe damage and disruptions to this region. While the term “east coast low” refers to a broad classification of events, it has been argued that different ECLs can have substantial differences in their nature, being dominated by baroclinic and barotropic processes in different degrees. Here we reexamine two well-known historical ECL case studies under this perspective: the Duck storm of March 2001 and the Pasha Bulker storm of June 2007. Exploiting the cyclone phase space analysis to study the storms’ full three-dimensional structure, we show that one storm has features similar to a typical extratropical frontal cyclone, while the other has hybrid tropical–extratropical characteristics. Furthermore, we examine the energetics of the atmosphere in a limited area including both systems for the ECL occurrence times, and show that the two cyclones are associated with different signatures in the energy conversion terms. We argue that the systematic use of the phase space and energetics diagnostics can form the basis for a physically based classification of ECLs, which is important to advance the understanding of ECL risk in a changing climate.