The relevance of intellectual capital disclosure: empirical evidence from Spanish universities

The reporting of intellectual capital (IC) in higher education institutions is of vital importance, mainly owing to the fact that knowledge is the main output and input in these institutions. Furthermore, the increasing social concern about establishing procedures of accountability and ensuring information transparency in public universities prompted us to consider the need to disclose information on their IC. In this study, we developed a questionnaire that was sent to members of the Social Councils of Spanish public universities in order to identify the intangible elements about which university stakeholders demand most information. It was also used to see which groups of universities have stakeholders who are more proactive to the disclosure of IC. Our results represent a starting point for public universities to identify the most commonly requested information about IC. Universities can then develop an IC report that fits their own characteristics and environment.     

Inducing knowledge sharing in teams through cost-efficient compensation schemes

A natural challenge for firms seeking to implement knowledge management systems is accounting for the interplay of incentives among workers and supervisors. This paper studies this interaction, focusing on the dynamics arising from joint projects, task evaluation, and knowledge sharing, in the framework of a game-theoretic model. We identify conditions under which a firm can minimize the costs of implementing an incentives-based system for knowledge sharing, taking into account the firm’s ability to monitor individual performance. We show that an employer in our framework has a stronger incentive to monitor tasks when relative-performance pay is small and when higher-paid agents are more likely to generate new knowledge.     

A managerial view of the knowledge flows of a health-care system

A health system has various knowledge structures enabling its knowledge resources to be efficiently applied. The literature has covered the management of clinical health information fairly extensively, but less is known about managerial knowledge flows. To address this knowledge gap, a regional health system in Finland is studied and managerial knowledge flows categorized in order to provide a better understanding of the inter-organizational knowledge networks of a health system. The paper contributes by illustrating and concretizing the knowledge dynamics of a health system. The empirical examination reveals the complexity of managerial knowledge flows and identifies three main categories of these: (1) national information steering, (2) regional information steering, and (3) internal control information. These categories are further elaborated with the data gathered through observation, interviews, and process modelling. A better understanding and management of knowledge flows is expected to have a positive effect on the performance of the health system.     

Narrating Your Work: an approach to supporting knowledge sharing in virtual teams

We propose an approach to enhancing knowledge sharing and connectedness in distributed teams. Termed ‘Narrating Your Work’ (NYW), the approach involves members of distributed team using a microblogging tool to post regular updates about their current work, accomplishments, and issues. The NYW approach was evaluated within a geographically and temporally distributed team at Shell International for a period of one month, using a mixed-method research design. Methodology comprised of a quantitative survey, followed by semi-structured interviews and analysis of microblogging updates posted during the month in which the approach was being trialled. The evaluation results suggest that NYW was viewed as a valid and practical approach to enhancing knowledge sharing and connectedness. A range of barriers and enablers that could impact the future application and embedding of the approach are identified and recommendations for implementation are outlined.     

Biofunctionalized nanoslits for wash-free and spatially resolved real-time sensing with full target capture

We propose biofunctionalized nanofluidic slits (nanoslits) as an effective platform for real-time fluorescence-based biosensing in a reaction-limited regime with optimized target capture efficiency. This is achieved by the drastic reduction of the diffusion length, thereby a boosted collision frequency between the target analytes and the sensor, and the size reduction of the sensing element down to the channel height comparable to the depletion layer caused by the reaction. Hybridization experiments conducted in DNA-functionalized nanoslits demonstrate the analyte depletion and the wash-free detection ∼10 times faster compared to the best microfluidic sensing platforms. The signal to background fluorescence ratio is drastically increased at lower target concentrations, in favor of low-copy number analyte analysis. Experimental and simulation results further show that biofunctionalized nanoslits provide a simple means to study reaction kinetics at the single-pixel level using conventional fluorescence microscopy with reduced optical depth.     

Core-shell hydrogel beads with extracellular matrix for tumor spheroid formation

Creating multicellular tumor spheroids is critical for characterizing anticancer treatments since they may provide a better model of the tumor than conventional monolayer culture. Moreover, tumor cell interaction with the extracellular matrix can determine cell organization and behavior. In this work, a microfluidic system was used to form cell-laden core-shell beads which incorporate elements of the extracellular matrix and support the formation of multicellular spheroids. The bead core (comprising a mixture of alginate, collagen, and reconstituted basement membrane, with gelation by temperature control) and shell (comprising alginate hydrogel, with gelation by ionic crosslinking) were simultaneously formed through flow focusing using a cooled flow path into the microfluidic chip. During droplet gelation, the alginate acts as a fast-gelling shell which aids in preventing droplet coalescence and in maintaining spherical droplet geometry during the slower gelation of the collagen and reconstituted basement membrane components as the beads warm up. After droplet gelation, the encapsulated MCF-7 cells proliferated to form uniform spheroids when the beads contained all three components: alginate, collagen, and reconstituted basement membrane. The dose-dependent response of the MCF-7 cell tumor spheroids to two anticancer drugs, docetaxel and tamoxifen, was compared to conventional monolayer culture.     

CRP,but not TNF-α or IL-6, decreases after weight loss in patients with morbid obesity exposed to intensive weight reduction and balneological treatment

Objective

The aim of this study was to evaluate the concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and the degree of homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in patients with morbid obesity exposed to a three-week low-calorie diet and balneotherapy.

Methods

The study included 33 patients (25 females and 8 males; mean age 46 years) with body mass index (BMI) values of >40 kg/m². Evaluations of CRP, IL-6, TNF-α, lipid profile, HOMA-IR, and fasting glucose were carried out before (baseline data) and three weeks after the treatment. The control group consisted of 20 healthy volunteers (15 females and 5 males) with a mean age of 39 years and BMI values of ≤24.9 kg/m².

Results

In the blood of patients with morbid obesity we found significantly elevated levels of CRP, TNF-α, triglycerides, HOMA-IR and fasting glucose, but a decreased level of high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, compared with the healthy individuals. The treatment resulted in about a 9.4% reduction in body weight from 122.5 to 111.0 kg and a significant decrease in the concentration of CRP, but no change in TNF-α or IL-6. HOMA-IR was significantly reduced.

Conclusion

The decrease in CRP level without changes in TNF-α or IL-6 concentrations after the low-calorie diet and balneological treatment, suggests that an essential amount of adipose tissue must be removed before proper adipocyte function is restored. The decrease in HOMA-IR indicates an improvement in insulin sensitivity, which is beneficial in obese patients.

     

Sustainability Strategies in the Forestry–Wood Chain Driven by Market Demands on Books and Other Products

This paper focuses on sustainability strategies for the Forestry–Wood chain (FWC) driven by market demands on books and other products. The main objective is to draft and suggest a process for market driven pro-active sustainability strategies for the FWC, based on a SWOT-analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). Further to highlight the possible strategic implications and critical areas for actors upstream in the FWC, in the context of uncertain external future scenarios. Higher demands on product differentiation were found throughout the FWC, where also collaboration and stakeholder interaction was found important to improve sustainability. The work broadens the “traditional” perspectives on FWC sustainability to encompass also interacting value chains such as book production and publishing, to get a more holistic view.