Key Factors Influencing Economic Relationships and Communication in Finnish Food Chains

The aim of this report is to discuss the role of the relationship type and communication in two Finnish food chains, namely the pig meat-to-sausage (pig meat chain) and the cereal-to-rye bread (rye chain) chains. Furthermore, the objective is to examine those factors influencing the choice of a relationship type and the sustainability of a business relationship. Altogether 1808 questionnaires were sent to producers, processors and retailers operating in these two chains of which 224 usable questionnaires were returned (the response rate being 12.4%). The great majority of the respondents (98.7%) were small businesses employing less than 50 people. Almost 70 per cent of the respondents were farmers. In both chains, formal contracts were stated to be the most important relationship type used with business partners. Although for many businesses written contracts are a common business practice, the essential role of the contracts was the security they provide regarding the demand/supply and quality issues. Relative to the choice of the relationship types, the main difference between the two chains emerged especially with the prevalence of spot markets and financial participation arrangements. The usage of spot markets was significantly more common in the rye chain when compared to the pig meat chain, while, on the other hand, financial participation arrangements were much more common among the businesses in the pig meat chain than in the rye chain. Furthermore, the analysis showed that most of the businesses in the pig meat chain claimed not to be free to choose the relationship type they use. Especially membership in a co-operative and practices of a business partner were mentioned as the reasons limiting this freedom of choice. The main business relations in both chains were described as having a long-term orientation and being based on formal written contracts. Typical for the main business relationships was also that they are not based on the existence of the key persons only; the relationship would remain even if the key people left the business. The quality of these relationships was satisfactory in both chains and across all the stakeholder groups, though the downstream processors and the retailers had a slightly more positive view on their main business partners than the farmers and the upstream processors. The businesses operating in the pig meat chain seemed also to be more dependent on their main business relations when compared to the businesses in the rye chain. Although the communication means were rather similar in both chains (the phone being the most important), there was some variation between the chains concerning the communication frequency necessary to maintain the relationship with the main business partner. In short, the businesses in the pig meat chain seemed to appreciate more frequent communication with their main business partners when compared to the businesses in the rye chain. Personal meetings with the main business partners were quite rare in both chains. All the respondent groups were, however, fairly satisfied with the communication frequency and information quality between them and the main business partner. The business cultures could be argued to be rather hegemonic among the businesses both in the pig meat and rye chains. Avoidance of uncertainty, appreciation of long-term orientation and independence were considered important factors in the business cultures. Furthermore, trust, commitment and satisfaction in business partners were thought to be essential elements of business operations in all the respondent groups. In order to investigate which factors have an effect on the choice of a relationship type, several hypotheses were tested by using binary and multinomial logit analyses. According to these analyses it could be argued that avoidance of uncertainty and risk has a certain effect on the relationship type chosen, i.e. the willingness to avoid uncertainty increases the probability to choose stable relationships, like repeated market transactions and formal written contracts, but not necessary those, which require high financial commitment (like financial participation arrangements). The probability of engaging in financial participation arrangements seemed to increase with long-term orientation. The hypotheses concerning the sustainability of the economic relations were tested by using structural equation model (SEM). In the model, five variables were found to have a positive and statistically significant impact on the sustainable economic relationship construct. Ordered relative to their importance, those factors are: (i) communication quality, (ii) personal bonds, (iii) equal power distribution, (iv) local embeddedness and (v) competition.

Cognitive Functioning in Alcohol and Other Substance Use Disorders in Young Adulthood : A Genetic Epidemiological Study

Alcohol and other substance use disorders (SUDs) result in great costs and suffering for individuals and families and constitute a notable public health burden. A multitude of factors, ranging from biological to societal, are associated with elevated risk of SUDs, but at the level of individuals, one of the best predictors is a family history of SUDs. Genetically informative twin and family studies have consistently indicated this familial risk to be mainly genetic. In addition, behavioral and temperamental factors such as early initiation of substance use and aggressiveness are associated with the development of SUDs. These familial, behavioral and temperamental risk factors often co-occur, but their relative importance is not well known. People with SUDs have also been found to differ from healthy controls in various domains of cognitive functioning, with poorer verbal ability being among the most consistent findings. However, representative population-based samples have rarely been used in neuropsychological studies of SUDs. In addition, both SUDs and cognitive abilities are influenced by genetic factors, but whether the co-variation of these traits might be partly explained by overlapping genetic influences has not been studied. Problematic substance use also often co-occurs with low educational level, but it is not known whether these outcomes share part of their underlying genetic influences. In addition, educational level may moderate the genetic etiology of alcohol problems, but gene-environment interactions between these phenomena have also not been widely studied. The incidence of SUDs peaks in young adulthood rendering epidemiological studies in this age group informative. This thesis investigated cognitive functioning and other correlates of SUDs in young adulthood in two representative population-based samples of young Finnish adults, one of which consisted of monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs enabling genetically informative analyses. Using data from the population-based Mental Health in Early Adulthood in Finland (MEAF) study (n=605), the lifetime prevalence of DSM-IV any substance dependence or abuse among persons aged 21—35 years was found to be approximately 14%, with a majority of the diagnoses being alcohol use disorders. Several correlates representing the domains of behavioral and affective factors, parental factors, early initiation of substance use, and educational factors were individually associated with SUDs. The associations between behavioral and affective factors (attention or behavior problems at school, aggression, anxiousness) and SUDs were found to be largely independent of factors from other domains, whereas daily smoking and low education were still associated with SUDs after adjustment for behavioral and affective factors. Using a wide array of neuropsychological tests in the MEAF sample and in a subsample (n=602) of the population-based FinnTwin16 (FT16) study, consistent evidence of poorer verbal cognitive ability related to SUDs was found. In addition, participants with SUDs performed worse than those without disorders in a task assessing psychomotor processing speed in the MEAF sample, whereas no evidence of more specific cognitive deficits was found in either sample. Biometrical structural equation models of the twin data suggested that both alcohol problems and verbal ability had moderate heritabilities (0.54—0.72), and that their covariation could be explained by correlated genetic influences (genetic correlations -0.20 to -0.31). The relationship between educational level and alcohol problems, studied in the full epidemiological FT16 sample (n=4,858), was found to reflect both genetic correlation and gene-environment interaction. The co-occurrence of low education and alcohol problems was influenced by overlapping genetic factors. In addition, higher educational level was associated with increased relative importance of genetic influences on alcohol problems, whereas environmental influences played a more important role in young adults with lower education. In conclusion, SUDs, especially alcohol abuse and dependence, are common among young Finnish adults. Behavioral and affective factors are robustly related to SUDs independently of many other factors, and compared to healthy peers, young adults who have had SUDs during their life exhibit significantly poorer verbal cognitive ability, and possibly less efficient psychomotor processing. Genetic differences between individuals explain a notable proportion of individual differences in risk of alcohol dependence, verbal ability, and educational level, and the co-occurrence of alcohol problems with poorer verbal cognition and low education is influenced by shared genetic backgrounds. Finally, various environmental factors related to educational level in young adulthood moderate the relative importance of genetic factors influencing the risk of alcohol problems, possibly reflecting differences in social control mechanisms related to educational level.

A dragonfly inspired flapping wing actuated by electro active polymers

An energy-based variational approach is used for structural dynamic modeling of the IPMC (Ionic Polymer Metal Composites) flapping wing. Dynamic characteristics of the wing are analyzed using numerical simulations. Starting with the initial design, critical parameters which have influence on the performance of the wing are identified through parametric studies. An optimization study is performed to obtain improved flapping actuation of the IPMC wing. It is shown that the optimization algorithm leads to a flapping wing with dimensions similar to the dragonfly Aeshna Multicolor wing. An unsteady aerodynamic model based on modified strip theory is used to obtain the aerodynamic forces. It is found that the IPMC wing generates sufficient lift to support its own weight and carry a small payload. It is therefore a potential candidate for flapping wing of micro air vehicles.

La orientación al mercado y el rendimiento empresarial: el caso de la banca comercial española

[ES] En este trabajo se pretende estudiar las consecuencias de la orientación al mercado sobre el rendimiento empresarial. En concreto se propone un modelo donde los efectos de la OM sobre la rentabilidad se manifiestan a través de otras variables mediadoras de resultados. La investigación empírica se realiza en el sector de la banca comercial española y se utiliza los modelos de ecuaciones estructurales para la contrastación de las hipótesis propuestas.

Confianza del consumidor en la compra a través de Internet: una propuesta de modelización basada en la jerarquía de aprendizaje estándar

[ES] Este trabajo se encuadra dentro de los estudios centrados en el análisis del comportamiento de compra del consumidor en Internet. Nos centramos en la adaptación del modelo de la jerarquía de efectos basado en su variante de la jerarquía estándar de aprendizaje para proponer teóricamente un modelo conceptual que explica cómo las creencias —i.e. diseño, velocidad de interacción, beneficios sociales y privacidad— y actitudes del consumidor hacia Internet, como medio de comunicación, pueden considerarse como determinantes plausibles de la confianza en la compra online. Asimismo, en nuestro modelo se plantea que las opiniones del consumidor respecto a la compra a distancia también deben ejercer una influencia sobre sus valoraciones de Internet, como medio de comunicación y, especialmente, de compra.

Periodic solutions of integro-differential equations which arise in population dynamics

The problem of the existence and stability of periodic solutions of infinite-lag integra-differential equations is considered. Specifically, the integrals involved are of the convolution type with the dependent variable being integrated over the range (- ∞,t), as occur in models of population growth. It is shown that Hopf bifurcation of periodic solutions from a steady state can occur, when a pair of eigenvalues crosses the imaginary axis. Also considered is the existence of traveling wave solutions of a model population equation allowing spatial diffusion in addition to the usual temporal variation. Lastly, the stability of the periodic solutions resulting from Hopf bifurcation is determined with aid of a Floquet theory.

The first chapter is devoted to linear integro-differential equations with constant coefficients utilizing the method of semi-groups of operators. The second chapter analyzes the Hopf bifurcation providing an existence theorem. Also, the two-timing perturbation procedure is applied to construct the periodic solutions. The third chapter uses two-timing to obtain traveling wave solutions of the diffusive model, as well as providing an existence theorem. The fourth chapter develops a Floquet theory for linear integro-differential equations with periodic coefficients again using the semi-group approach. The fifth chapter gives sufficient conditions for the stability or instability of a periodic solution in terms of the linearization of the equations. These results are then applied to the Hopf bifurcation problem and to a certain population equation modeling periodically fluctuating environments to deduce the stability of the corresponding periodic solutions.

Kapital sozialaren garrantzia familia enpresetan

[EU]Kapital sozialaren ikuspegian oinarriturik eta kotizatu gabeko 172 familiaenpresa espainiarren lagin bat erabiliz, barne hartuz enpresan kudeaketa-funtzioak betetzen dituzten pertsona elkarrizketatu bi eta guztira 344 galdetegi izanik, uste dugu kapital sozial familiarrak bitartekari gisa balio duela kapital sozial ez-familiarraren eta enpresaren jardueraren artean. Gainera, gure emaitzek kapital sozialaren ulermena familia-enpresatik haratago hedatzen dute, erakundeek talde sozial nagusi baten presentzia ezaugarritzat duten testuinguru batean.

Imagem de um Conselho Profissional: um estudo utilizando equações estruturais

O estudo e medição da imagem, especialmente de um Conselho Profissional são essenciais para auxiliar os gestores destas instituições a tomarem decisões. Como não há uma escala válida e confiável que permita a medição da imagem corporativa de um Conselho Profissional, o presente trabalho busca confirmar, através do método de Modelagem de Equações Estruturais MEE, o modelo hipotético proposto por Peres (2004) e Carvalho (2009) que tomam por base o estudo de Folland, Peacock e Pelfrey (1991) que conclui que a imagem corporativa é composta por dois fatores e a percepção desta imagem impacta na avaliação de seu desempenho. Os resultados obtidos na pesquisa demonstram, com grande segurança estatística, que o modelo proposto é consistente, tem ótimo ajuste, e pode ser aplicado em futuras amostras semelhantes.

Is it possible to measure social entrepreneurship in firms?

[EN] This study defines and proposes a measurement scale for social entrepreneurship (SE) in its broadest sense. The broad definition of SE covers for-profit firms that use social aims as a core component of their strategy. By pursuing social aims, these firms can boost the value of their products or services for consumers or exploit new business areas. Under this broad definition of SE, profit-seeking and the pursuit of social aims converge, thereby revealing a form of SE that has received little attention in either theoretical or empirical research. To fill this research gap, the present study proposes a measurement scale to measure broad SE in firms. The process used to build the scale draws upon research by Churchill (1979) and DeVellis (1991) and combines the Delphi technique, a pre-test questionnaire and structural equation modelling. The main aim of this research is to develop a scale capable of measuring broad SE in firms. The theoretical basis for the scale is supported by an empirical study in the hotel sector. The scale provides a valid, reliable instrument for measuring broad SE in firms. The scale meets all sociometric properties required of measurement scales in the social sciences, namely dimensionality, reliability and validity.

Resonant excitation and imaging of nonequilibrium exciton spins in single core-shell GaAs-AlGaAs nanowires.

Nonequilibrium spin distributions in single GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowires are excited using resonant polarized excitation at 10 K. At all excitation energies, we observe strong photoluminescence polarization due to suppressed radiative recombination of excitons with dipoles aligned perpendicular to the nanowire. Excitation resonances are observed at 1- or 2-LO phonon energies above the exciton ground states. Using rate equation modeling, we show that, at the lowest energies, strongly nonequilibrium spin distributions are present and we estimate their spin relaxation rate.

Statistics anxiety, trait anxiety, learning behavior, and academic performance

The present study investigated the relationship between statistics anxiety, individual characteristics (e.g., trait anxiety and learning strategies), and academic performance. Students enrolled in a statistics course in psychology (N=147) filled in a questionnaire on statistics anxiety, trait anxiety, interest in statistics, mathematical selfconcept, learning strategies, and procrastination. Additionally, their performance in the examination was recorded. The structural equation model showed that statistics anxiety held a crucial role as the strongest direct predictor of performance. Students with higher statistics anxiety achieved less in the examination and showed higher procrastination scores. Statistics anxiety was related indirectly to spending less effort and time on learning. Trait anxiety was related positively to statistics anxiety and, counterintuitively, to academic performance. This result can be explained by the heterogeneity of the measure of trait anxiety. The part of trait anxiety that is unrelated to the specific part of statistics anxiety correlated positively with performance.

Statistics anxiety, state anxiety during an examination, and academic achievement.

BACKGROUND: A large proportion of students identify statistics courses as the most anxiety-inducing courses in their curriculum. Many students feel impaired by feelings of state anxiety in the examination and therefore probably show lower achievements. AIMS: The study investigates how statistics anxiety, attitudes (e.g., interest, mathematical self-concept) and trait anxiety, as a general disposition to anxiety, influence experiences of anxiety as well as achievement in an examination. SAMPLE: Participants were 284 undergraduate psychology students, 225 females and 59 males. METHODS: Two weeks prior to the examination, participants completed a demographic questionnaire and measures of the STARS, the STAI, self-concept in mathematics, and interest in statistics. At the beginning of the statistics examination, students assessed their present state anxiety by the KUSTA scale. After 25 min, all examination participants gave another assessment of their anxiety at that moment. Students' examination scores were recorded. Structural equation modelling techniques were used to test relationships between the variables in a multivariate context. RESULTS: Statistics anxiety was the only variable related to state anxiety in the examination. Via state anxiety experienced before and during the examination, statistics anxiety had a negative influence on achievement. However, statistics anxiety also had a direct positive influence on achievement. This result may be explained by students' motivational goals in the specific educational setting. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide insight into the relationship between students' attitudes, dispositions, experiences of anxiety in the examination, and academic achievement, and give recommendations to instructors on how to support students prior to and in the examination.

波动方程模拟与偏移的实用化方法研究

Along with the widespread and in-depth applications in petroleum prospecting and development, the seismic modeling and migration technologies are proposed with a higher requirement by oil industrial, and the related practical demand is getting more and more urgent. Based on theories of modeling and migration methods for wave equation, both related with velocity model, I thoroughly research and develop some methods for the goal of highly effective and practical in this dissertation. In the first part, this dissertation probes into the layout designing by wave equations modeling, focusing on the target-oriented layout designing method guided by wave equation modeling in complicated structure areas. It is implemented by using the fourth order staggered grid finite difference (FD) method in velocity-stress 2D acoustic wave equations plus perfectly matched layer (PML) absorbing boundary condition. To design target-oriented layout: (a) match the synthetic record on the surface with events of subsurface structures by analyzing the snapshots of theoretical model; (b) determine the shot-gather distance by tracking the events of target areas and measuring the receiving range when it reaches the surface; (c) restrict the range of valid shot-gather distance by drawing seismic windows in single shot records; (d) choose the best trace distance by comparing the resolution of prospecting targets from the simulated records with different trace distance. Eventually, we obtained the observation system parameters, which achieve the design requirements. In the second part, this dissertation presents the practical method to improve the 3D Fourier Finite Difference (FFD) migration, and carefully analyzes all the factors which influence 3D FFD migration’s efficiency. In which, one of the most important parameters of migration is the extrapolating step. This dissertation presents an efficient 3D FFD migration algorithm, which use FFD propagator to extrapolate wavefields over big layers, and use Born-Kirchhoff interpolator to image wavefields over small layers between the big ones. Finally, I show the effectiveness of this hybrid migration method by comparing migration results from 3D SEG/EAGE model with different methods.

叠前地震多角度三参数同步反演方法

Pre-stack seismic inversion has become the emphasis and hotspot owing to the exploration & exploitation of oil field and the development of seismic technology. Pre-stack seismic inversion has the strongpoint of making the most of amplitude versus offset compared with the post-stack method. In this dissertation, the three parameters were discussed from multi-angle reflectance of P-wave data based on Zoeppritz’s and Aki & Richard’s equation, include P-wave velocity, S-wave velocity, and density. The three parameters are inversed synchronously from the pre-stack multi-angle P-wave data, based on rockphysics model and aimed at the least remnant difference between model simulation and practical data. In order to improve the stability of inversion and resolution to thin bed, several techniques were employed, such as the wavelet transform with multi-scale function, adding the Bayesian soft constraint and hard constraints (the horizon, structure and so on) to the inversion process. Being the result, the uncertainty of the resolution is reduced, the reliability and precision are improved, the significance of parameters becomes clearer. Meeting to the fundamental requirement of pre-stack inversion, some research in rockphysics are carried out which covered the simulation and inversion of S-wave velocity, the influence of pore fluids to geophysical parameters, and the slecting and analyzing of sensitive parameters. The difference between elastic wave equation modeling and Zoeppritz equation method is also compared. A series of key techniques of pre-stack seismic inversion and description were developed, such as attributes optimization, fluid factors, etc. All the techniques mentioned above are assembled to form a technique sets and process of synchronous pre-stack seismic inversion method of the three parameters based on rock physics and model simulation. The new method and technology were applied in many areas with various reservoirs, obtained both geological and economic significance, which proved to be valid and rational. This study will promote the pre-stack inversion technology and it’s application in hidden reservoirs exploration, face good prospects for development and application.

民众社会风险认知的影响因素及作用机制

Risk perception is one of important subjects in management psychology and cognitive psychology. It is of great value in the theory and practice to investigate the social risk events that the public cares a lot especially in this social transition period. Furthermore, this study explored the factors that influence the risk perception and the results caused by risk perception. A survey including 30 hazards and 8 risk attributes was designed and distributed to about 3, 200 residents of 8 districts, Beijing. The major findings are listed as following： Firstly, combining the methods of system science and psychology, GAE program was used to indentify 7 groups of social risk events, such as national safe, government management, social stability, general mood of society, economic and finance, resources and environment & daily life problems. This study provided substance for the following studies and it was also a new attempt in research method which is of certain reference value for the related researches. Secondly, a scale of societal risk perception was designed and 2 factors were identified (Dread Risk & Unknown Risk). Reliability analysis, EFA and CFA show the reliability and validity of the societal risk questionnaire is good enough. The investigation using this scale showed that older participants and higher socioeconomic status perceived the societal hazards to be more threatening than did younger participants and lower socioeconomic status. However, there is no gender difference. Thirdly, structural equation model was used to analyze the influence factors and mechanism of societal risk perception. Risk taking, government support and social justice could influence societal risk perception directly. Government support moderated the relationship between government trust and societal risk perception. Societal risk perception influenced life satisfaction, public policy preferences and social development belief. Multi-group analysis was used to find out that the participants who have different socioeconomic status express different mechanism. Fourthly, the result of the research was used to explore the risk event of 2008 Olympic game. The results showed that government support and preparation of Olympic game influenced societal risk perception directly. Preparation moderated the relationship between government trust and risk perception. Risk perception influenced worry, effect of Olympic game and belief of successl. This result proved that risk perception could be used as an indicator. The indictor of risk perception was used to identify the characteristics of higher risk perception group. Finally, suggestions to the related decision were provide to the government.