scholarly journals Challenges and Solutions for Non-Timber Forest Product Businesses in Finland–An Application of the SODA Analysis

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 753
Author(s):  
Jukka Tikkanen ◽  
Tuomo Takala ◽  
Marja-Liisa Järvelä ◽  
Mikko Kurttila ◽  
Henri Vanhanen

This study aims to present a holistic image of the strategic development needs and potential solutions within the Finnish non-timber forest product (NTFP) business sector and demonstrate a new hybrid methodology for collaborative strategy formulation. The perceived challenges and solutions were collected with the 635 group-working method in a nationwide series of NTFP actor workshops. The analysis applied the Strategic Option Development and Analysis (SODA) approach and the formal network analysis. Business actors emphasised two complex and interrelated aims of development at the core of the business activity: (1) to improve the profitability of the NTFP business and (2) to facilitate the growth of the sector. The present bottleneck is perceived in the raw material acquisition and productising, and many wider development themes, such as business logic and sustainability, received little attention.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 4011
Author(s):  
Dan Wang ◽  
Jindong Zhao ◽  
Chunxiao Mu

In the field of modern bidding, electronic bidding leads a new trend of development, convenience and efficiency and other significant advantages effectively promote the reform and innovation of China’s bidding field. Nowadays, most systems require a strong and trusted third party to guarantee the integrity and security of the system. However, with the development of blockchain technology and the rise of privacy protection, researchers has begun to emphasize the core concept of decentralization. This paper introduces a decentralized electronic bidding system based on blockchain and smart contract. The system uses blockchain to replace the traditional database and uses chaincode to process business logic. In data interaction, encryption techniques such as zero-knowledge proof based on graph isomorphism are used to improve privacy protection, which improves the anonymity of participants, the privacy of data transmission, and the traceability and verifiable of data. Compared with other electronic bidding systems, this system is more secure and efficient, and has the nature of anonymous operation, which fully protects the privacy information in the bidding process.


e-Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 200-209
Author(s):  
Caiyun Zhang ◽  
Chunhong Li ◽  
Bolin Ji ◽  
Zhaohui Jiang

Abstract A fast, simple, and energy-saving microwave-assisted approach was successfully developed to prepare carbon microspheres. The carbon microspheres with a uniform particle size and good dispersity were prepared using glucose as the raw material and HCl as the dehydrating agent at low temperature (90°C) in an open system with the assistance of microwave heating. The carbon microspheres were characterized by elemental analysis, XRD, SEM, FTIR, TG, and Raman. The results showed that the carbon microspheres prepared under the condition of 18.5% (v/v) HCl and heating for 30 min by microwave had a narrow size distribution. The core–shell structure of the carbon core and TiO2 shell was prepared with (NH4)2TiF6, H3BO3 using the microwave-assisted method. The hollow TiO2 microspheres with good crystallinity and high photocatalytic properties were successfully prepared by sacrificing the carbon microspheres.


2020 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 360-363
Author(s):  
Diego Araújo Frazilio ◽  
Otávio Guilherme Gonçalves de Almeida ◽  
Carlos Augusto Fernandes de Oliveira ◽  
Sarah Hwa In Lee ◽  
Carlos Humberto Corassin ◽  
...  

AbstractFor this research communication, 90 samples of a Brazilian dairy were combined into four groups (raw material, final product, food-contact and non-food contact surfaces) and analyzed by metataxonomics based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The results showed high alpha-diversity indexes for final product and non-food contact surfaces but, overall, beta-diversity indexes were low. The samples were separated in two main clusters, and the core microbiota was composed by Macrococcus, Alkaliphilus, Vagococcus, Lactobacillus, Marinilactibacillus, Streptococcus, Lysinibacillus, Staphylococcus, Clostridium, Halomonas, Lactococcus, Enterococcus, Bacillus and Psychrobacter. These results highlight that rare taxa occur in dairies, and this may aid the development of strategies for food protection.


Author(s):  
Robert Parent ◽  
Denis St-Jacques ◽  
Julie Bélievau

This chapter reviews recent literature on knowledge and knowledge transfer (KT) and proposes the emergence of a classification system of the core KT concepts, models, and contexts that helps address issues of a strategic nature. The two paradigms that inform most of the KT literature, the positivist and social construction paradigms, and their implications on strategy formulation, are discussed. The positivist paradigm views knowledge as an object that can be passed on mechanistically from the creator to a translator who then adapts and transmits it to the user. The social construction paradigm views knowledge as the dynamic by-product of interactions between human actors who are trying to understand, name, and act on reality. In keeping with this dual paradigm logic, the literature on KT can be categorized as originating either from an information technology paradigm or an organic paradigm. The chapter discusses how most of the past strategy-related KT issues focused on the transfer of explicit knowledge and indicates that the future direction implies a shift in attention towards more tacit knowledge transfer considerations.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid R. Taghiyari ◽  
Abolfazl Soltani ◽  
Ayoub Esmailpour ◽  
Vahid Hassani ◽  
Hamed Gholipour ◽  
...  

An issue in engineered wood products, like oriented strand lumber (OSL), is the low thermal conductivity coefficient of raw material, preventing the fast transfer of heat into the core of composite mats. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of sepiolite at nanoscale with aspect ratio of 1:15, in mixture with urea-formaldehyde resin (UF), and its effect on thermal conductivity coefficient of the final panel. Sepiolite was mixed with UF resin for 20 min prior to being sprayed onto wood strips in a rotary drum. Ten percent of sepiolite was mixed with the resin, based on the dry weight of UF resin. OSL panels with two resin contents, namely 8% and 10%, were manufactured. Temperature was measured at the core section of the mat at 5-second intervals, using a digital thermometer. The thermal conductivity coefficient of OSL specimens was calculated based on Fourier’s Law for heat conduction. With regard to the fact that an improved thermal conductivity would ultimately be translated into a more effective polymerization of the resin, hardness of the panel was measured, at different depths of penetration of the Janka ball, to find out how the improved conductivity affected the hardness of the produced composite panels. The measurement of core temperature in OSL panels revealed that sepiolite-treated panels with 10% resin content had a higher core temperature in comparison to the ones containing 8% resin. Furthermore, it was revealed that the addition of sepiolite increased thermal conductivity in OSL panels made with 8% and 10% resin contents, by 36% and 40%, respectively. The addition of sepiolite significantly increased hardness values in all penetration depths. Hardness increased as sepiolite content increased. Considering the fact that the amount of sepiolite content was very low, and therefore it could not physically impact hardness increase, the significant increase in hardness values was attributed to the improvement in the thermal conductivity of panels and subsequent, more complete, curing of resin.


DoisPontos ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Diniz Mendonça

Parte de um percurso em que tratamos de expor a estrutura filosófica LÊtre et lê Néant (EN), o presente estudo procura mostrar que essa obra é o ponto fundamental de transição onde se dá, no pensamento sartriano, a metamorfose de uma teoria do tempo como destino trágico numa teoria do tempo como salvação. Completa-se, aqui, o processo de radicalização de Heidegger efetivado por Sartre: do pessimismo próprio do Dasein, que caminha impotente e solitário para a morte, passamos ao otimismo resultante da descoberta de uma temporalidade que cura. Na tentativa de compreender o sentido e a função dessa nova figura da temporalidade, desmontamos o mecanismo do curto-circuito especulativo que inverte, em EN, o sinal do Tempo do Mundo heideggeriano. Tal desmontagem levou-nos a surpreender o fio filosófico do livro entrelaçado numa trama históricoliterária. Ao examinar os termos desse reencontro da elaboração filosófica com a matéria viva da história, circunscrevendo uma zona (recuada) em que estruturas díspares se interpenetram, terminamos por identificar o conteúdo de experiência cifrado no movimento especulativo dos conceitos desse que é considerado o mais abstrato (e técnico) tratado de Metafísica dos Tempos Modernos. Pretendendo apenas descrever (no sentido da fenomenologia alemã) as estruturas universais da realidade humana (intemporais por definição), Sartre dá com o cerne de uma conjuntura histórica precisa: não a matéria bruta, é claro, mas sua reconstrução política e literária, talhada nos moldes da Resistência e transposta para a forma filosófica de EN.Sartre. Tempo. Metafísica. Política. When Time heals the Wounds of Time itself AbstractPart of a trajectory in which we expose the philosophical structure of L´Être et le Néant (EN), this study aims at demonstrating that this work is the fundamental transition point where, in Sartre´s thought, a theory of time as a tragic destiny metamorphoses itself into a theory of time as salvation. Here, Sartres project of radicalizing Heidegger is completed: from Daseins peculiar pessimism, which proceeds in a lonely and impotent way towards death, we move to the optimism resulting from the discovery of a temporality that cures. In the attempt to understand the meaning and the function of this new figure of temporality, we dismantle the speculative short circuit mechanism that inverts, in EN, the sign of Heideggers Time of the World. This dismantling leads to our discovery of the philosophical red thread of the book entwined in a historical literary plot. When we examine the terms of this reencounter of philosophical creation with the living matter of history, establishing a zone (set back) in which different structures merge, we end up identifying the contents of experience which appear in the conceptual speculative movement of that work which is considered as the most abstract (and technical) treatise of Metaphysics of Modern Times. Intending only to describe (in the sense of German phenomenology) the universal structures of human reality (intemporal by definition), Sartre encounters the core of a precise historical conjunction not the raw material, of course, but its political and literary reconstruction, shaped in the patterns of the Resistance and transposed to the philosophical form of EN.Sartre. Time. Metaphysics. Politics. 


Author(s):  
Rungroj Arjwech ◽  
Mark E. Everett ◽  
Sakhon Saengchomphu ◽  
Kittipong Somchat ◽  
Potpreecha Pondthai

The increasing demand for gypsum as a raw material for construction projects motivates exploration for additional reserves. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and seismic refraction geophysical methods, augmented with borehole and laboratory measurements on core samples, are used here to delineate the top, bottom and lateral boundaries of an important gypsum ore deposit in Thailand, an economically developing region. The gypsum-bearing formation is found throughout the study area to have an irregular upper boundary on account of karstic dissolution processes. The deeper transition from gypsum to anhydrite, however, is not constrained by the measurements. The P-wave velocity measured in the field is consistent with the core specimen measurements. The electrical resistivity of the core specimens, however, is substantially higher than the values measured in the field. The specimen measurements may depend on the presence of micro cracks, whereas electrical resistivity in the field may be affected by the enclosing clay-rich materials.


1982 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Ernst W. Neuland

The importance of small business enterprises in a free market economy is reflected by their contribution to economic activity, maintaining competitiveness, and provision of employment opportunities. Despite their economic importance, small business firms are characterized by a high failure rate, inter alia, owing to their unique problems. The independent entrepreneur accordingly has a definite need for aid - which is rendered to the small business sector in the majority of capitalistic countries, including South Africa. It would appear that research in the field of small business has, almost without exception, been conducted in an unsystematic and fragmentary manner. In this paper a conceptual framework, which is based on the developmental approach and the life cycle concept, is advanced. By relating the specific problems of small business firms to the stage of development of the firm in a strategic sense, a systematic approach for studying the dynamic small business firm ensues. This approach will also serve as a conceptual framework for: research into small business firms; developmental aid to the small business sector; development and training of entrepreneurs; financing considerations by the financial sector; and strategy formulation and implementation for the small business firm as such.


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 9-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam R. Szromek

Purpose. The aim of the article is to try to integrate the structure of a spa product and business model of the spa sector, with particular emphasis on the value proposition for the client perceived through the prism of the core benefits in the spa product. Method. Through critical analysis of the literature, the work cites key categories of value configuration and examples for the sector of spa enterprises, and then relates this knowledge to the issue of the structure of a spa product. Findings. As a result of the discussed discussions, a schema of a spa product was developed, with particular emphasis on the core of the product, the actual, extended and potential product, and components of the business model. Research and conclusions limitations. The weakness of the conducted research is their generalization, which although it is intended, paradoxically does not take into account the individual specifics of individual spa plants and the type of spa raw material used in them (salt, peloids, thermal and brine). Practical implications. The article provides a diagram of a spa product integrated with the business model. Originality. Until now, the values for the spa client have not been characterized. The work fills the gap in the core of the spa product in the context of the business model. Type of paper. The work is of a conceptual nature based on literature review and market cases.


2015 ◽  
Vol 733 ◽  
pp. 846-849
Author(s):  
Jian Jun Yang

According to the several problems existing in the supply logistics of the traditional automotive manufacturing logistics, the optimization solution to the supply logistics based on the RFID technology of internet of things has been proposed. The influence of the indication of the traditional supply logistics on the whole automotive manufacturing logistics was described in details. In terms of the core element, the business logic thinking and implement method of the RFID technology, applied in each connection relationship of the supply logistics, the optimization of the supply logistics structure was then achieved and the procedure of the optimized supply logistics was plot, which has also been analyzed specifically to indicate the direction for future study.


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