The incessant search by the consumer for products that are ready for consumption and for new technologies aimed at ensuring the safety and quality of food has intensified with the adoption of measures that can reduce these risks. This work shows that an absorbent food pad used in chilled meat trays; containing a mix of six bacteriophages; BFSE16; BFSE18; PaDTA1; PaDTA9; PaDTA10 and PaDTA11 isolated and characterized by the work group; used as biocontrol; has application in the food preservation area. It is an excellent method of extending the shelf life of refrigerated processed foods ready for consumption. The system was evaluated for the ability; in vitro; to reduce the initial count of Salmonella Typhimurium present in the environment. Three different phage concentrations were incorporated in pads that have the ability to reduce 4.36; 3.66 and 0.87 log cycles at 15 °C; respectively; and an average 0.55 log cycles at 10 °C at the concentrations used. The higher the concentration of this bacteriophage; the better its effect on the host; having a greater capacity for infection. The viable phage remained on the pad during the treatment time of 48 h.

Abstract: In this article, we consider the representations of poverty within consumer culture. We focus on four main themes – social exclusion, vulnerability, pleasure and contentment – that capture some of the associations that contemporary understandings have made with poverty. For each theme, we consider the portrayals of poverty from the perspective of key agents (such as marketers, media, politicians) and then relate this to more emic representations of poverty by drawing on a range of contemporary poverty alleviating projects from around the world. We conclude with a set of guidelines for relevant stakeholders to bear in mind when elaborating their representations of poverty. These guidelines may act as a platform to transform marginalizing representations of poverty into more empowering representations. Resumen: Este artículo analiza la representación de la pobreza en la cultural del consumo. Cuatro temas que capturan el entendimiento contemporáneo sobre la pobreza son abordados: Exclusión social, vulnerabilidad, placer, y aceptación. Para cada tema consideramos como diferentes agentes: Mercadeo, medios, y políticos, muestran la pobreza, y se relaciona estos a diferentes proyectos para aliviar esta situación alrededor del mundo. Las conclusiones se enfocan en brindar una serie de prácticas a tener en cuenta para transformar la representación social de la pobreza.

Thermoelectric films on flexible substrates are of interest for the integration of thermoelectric in wearable devices. In this work, copper selenide films are achieved by a novel low-temperature technique, namely pulsed hybrid reactive magnetron sputtering (PHRMS). A brief introduction to the basic chemistry and physics involved during growth is included to explain its fundamentals. PHRMS is a single-step, room temperature (RT), fabrication process carried out in another ways conventional vacuum sputtering system. It does not require high-temperature post-annealing to obtain films with great thermoelectric performance. It is, therefore, compatible with polymeric substrates like Kapton tape. Several sets of films covering a large exploratory compositional range (from Cu/Se = 1 to 9) are deposited and their microstructure and thermoelectric properties are analyzed at RT. Power factors as high as 1.1 mW m?1 K?2 in the in-plane direction and thermal conductivities as low as ? = 0.8 ± 0.1 W m?1 K?1 in the out-of-plane direction have been obtained for ?-Cu2Se films. Consequently, a figure of merit of 0.4 at RT can be estimated under the assumption that for this polycrystalline cubic phase no additional anisotropy in the thermoelectric properties is introduced by the planar configuration. Moreover, PHRMS is also industrially scalable and compatible with the in-line fabrication of other selenides.

Environmental adjustment is the most invoked explanation for intra-seasonal variation in bird nest morphology. However, time constraints may also be important, coming as a trade-off between the costs of nest building and the requirement to coincide a breeding attempt with maximal food supply. We describe the seasonal variation in nest morphology of the Thorn-tailed Rayadito (Aphrastura spinicauda) in a sub-Antarctic population in southern Chile, and investigate its relation with the seasonal fluctuation of ambient temperature (an ‘environmental adjustment’ hypothesis) and time constraints (an ‘optimal time frame’ hypothesis). As the breeding season progressed, rayaditos spent fewer days building their nests, built smaller nests, and used less animal-derived insulating material. After statistically removing the effects of daily temperatures on nest building periods and nest morphological measurements, we observed no seasonal trend in the amount of insulating material used, supporting an ‘environmental adjustment’ explanation. However, the nest building periods, nest depth, and nest dry weight still showed a seasonal trend, favouring an ‘optimal time frame’ hypothesis. Our study shows that both temperature fluctuations and time constraints can affect different components of the nesting ecology of birds, and that nest morphology is the consequence of distinct non-mutually exclusive forces.

Security and computer expertise of end users can be significant predictors of user behaviour and interactions in the security and privacy context. Standardized, externally valid instruments for measuring end-user security expertise are non-existent. To address this need, we developed a questionnaire to identify critical factors that constitute expertise in end-users. It combines skills and knowledge based questions. Using exploratory factor analysis on the results from 898 participants from a range of populations, we identified 12 questions within 4 factors that correspond to computing and security expertise. Ordered logistic regression models were applied to measure efficacy of proposed security and computing factors in predicting user comprehension of security concepts (phishing and certificates). We conclude with a framework for informing future user-centered security expertise research.

Abstract: The adoption to sustainable production is a continuous but necessary strive for manufacturing operations, including small and medium enterprises, SMEs. Meeting global sustainability demands provides challenges for SMEs. In order for these challenges to be met, an understanding of internal and external enablers is required. Studies focusing on the enablers for sustainability in SMEs are rare. In order to enhance the understanding of the adoption of sustainable production for the sector surface treatment SMEs, an explorative study has been conducted. In this study, the focus has been placed in the identification and analysis of the challenges and enablers for adoption of sustainable production. Two stages of empirical data collection were undertaken: a focus group session and an online questionnaire. The results showed that these SMEs face challenges in their way towards sustainable production, mainly due to: low economic profitability, old working procedures, lack of understanding of the environmental legislation, difficulty in attracting and keeping workforce, lack of technology development and resistance towards change. These challenges could be mitigated or overcomed through the internal and external enablers, where the support of large-size customers, and collaboration with other stakeholders is critical for these SMEs. Resumen: La adopción de la producción sostenible constituye un esfuerzo continuo pero necesario por parte de todas las empresas, incluyendo a las pequeñas y medianas empresas- Pymes. La satisfacción de las demandas globales de sostenibilidad representa desafíos para las PYMEs. Con el fin de superar estos desafíos o barreras es importante identificar y entender cuales son aquellos los factores facilitadores internos y externos con los cuales cuentan las Pymes. En la literatura, artículos acerca de los facilitadores para la sostenibilidad en Pymes son escasos. El presente artículo, de carácter explorativo, busca estudiar la adopción de la producción sostenible dentro de las Pymes pertenecientes al sector de tratamiento de superficies. Este artículo se centra en la identificación y el análisis de las barreras y facilitadores presentes en la adopción de la producción sostenible. Se llevaron a cabo dos etapas de recopilación de datos: grupos focales y cuestionario en línea. Los resultados indican que estas Pymes enfrentan significantes obstáculos en su camino hacia la producción sostenible, principalmente debido a las siguientes barreras presentes ente tipo de Pymes: baja rentabilidad económica, viejos procedimientos de trabajo, falta de entendimiento de la legislación ambiental, dificultad para atraer y retener la mano de obra calificada, falta de ofertas en lo referente a desarrollo tecnológico en sus procesos, y resistencia al cambio. Las anteriores barreras tienen el potencial de ser ser mitigadas o eliminadas a través de los facilitadores internos y externos identificados en este estudio.

We study knowledge sharing among engineers todevelop a nuanced understanding of the role of meaningful work and organizational identification by integrating the knowledge management framework, the job characteristics model and organizational identity theory. Using a cross-sectional survey of 168 engineers with managerial responsibilities from several industries in Colombia, we tested a structural equation model. Results show that a meaningful work is related with knowledge sharing, but is mediated by organizational identification. Furthermore, we found that the way to obtain knowledge donating is preceded by knowledge collecting. These associations provide insight into engineers’ attitudes towards sharing knowledge as a way to differentiate profiles in the organizational environments and promote further research in this regard. Practical implications revolve around the justification for working on practices that not only foster meaningfulness in the workplace, but also organizational identification in order to obtain adequate levels of organizational knowledge sharing. Finally, since most studies have been carried out in developed countries, this study also contributes to a better understanding of the topic in previously unexplored contexts, in this case emerging economies.

Routing anomalies, beyond simple leaks, are occurring on the order of tens of thousands a year. These may be accidents, but there is anecdotal evidence that indicates criminal intent. There are case studies that illustrate the use of these for national intelligence. Any given anomaly could be an accident, a crime, or an attack. Although it is impossible to directly observe the motivation of those who generate these anomalies, aggregate data about the sources of these anomalies is available. Here we leverage tools of macroeconomics to provide insights into the possible nature of these anomalies. We offer an empirical investigation using multiple linear regression and unsupervised learning to analyze data over a four-year period in order to better understand the nature of routing anomalies. If routing anomalies are a result of limited technical competence, then countries with low levels of education, few technology exports, and less expertise should be over-represented. If routing anomalies are leveraged by criminals for profit, then economic theories and analytical approaches from criminology should show statistical significance. Or, if routing anomalies are primarily used by national intelligence agencies to attack either internal dissidents or those outside their borders, then the presence of conflict and measures of quality of governance are possible indicators. We examine anomalies as likely due to incompetence, potential ecrime, or intelligence operations using macroeconomics by leveraging three theories from criminology and global measures of technology adoption. We found that exports of technology were not statistically significant, undermining the argument for incompetence. We also found support for the possibility that anomalies are driven by crime, specifically for the guardianship and relative deprivation theories of crime. In addition to these findings from regression analysis, clustering indicates that civil conflict and surveillance are associated with the disproportionate origination of routing anomalies. This supports the possibility of use of routing anomalies for national intelligence.

Abstract: Reflecting on methodology means thinking about decisions a researcher makes when approaching the subject of study, in terms of questions posed, concepts embraced and choice of methods. There are also epistemological and ontological assumptions underlying the selection of particular methodologies and concepts, though this is less often explicitly considered. Therefore within these considerations, the definition of the unit of analysis and the levels at which the study is conducted, need to be made explicit and to be justified, for quality in research. This chapter discusses these issues taking the example of Colombia, to show how some violent conflicts fall between the cracks of currently dominant methodologies of mathematical modeling and the use of existing econometric datasets, on the one hand, and the ways ethnicity is included in those models and datasets. Ethnic identities have mostly been the focus of studies by anthropologists, often focused on local level struggle sand claims, whereas a national level perspective is still most common in the econometric rational choice approach to conflict studies. The later however use ethnicity as one of its variables. My point is that research results also change when the research focus changes from national to local level. Resumen: Reflexionar sobre metodologías y métodos implica reflexionar sobre las decisiones un investigador tiene que tomar cuando se aproxima a un objeto de estudio, su relación con las preguntas que se busca responder, los conceptos que se usan para el análisis y la elección de métodos para esta tarea. Sin embargo no debemos dejar de lado la reflexión sobre aquellos supuestos ontológicos y epistemológicos que son implícitos en la elección de metodologías. Esto es algo que raramente es expuesto y discutido de manera explícita. Considerando esto, la definición de la unidad de análisis y su impacto sobre una investigación es realizada deben ser hechos explícitos y justificados para garantizar la calidad de la investigación. Este capítulo discute estos elementos tomando como caso de análisis el caso de Colombia, para presentar como el argumento de un conflicto étnico puede ganar o perder validez en función de las metodologías usadas y los datos analizados. La identidad y el análisis de grupos étnicos ha sido el foco de análisis de antropólogos, quienes analizan este caso desde una perspectiva local y regional, sin embargo cuando se presentan panoramas más generales (a nivel nacional) el análisis presentado es mucho más homogeneizador. La discrepancia alrededor de la respuesta a la existencia/ausencia de un conflicto étnico en Colombia presenta el ejemplo de como las respuestas a nuestras preguntas de investigación pueden alterarse al cambiar la unidad de análisis y el área de estudio de una investigación.

Drawing on the legitimacy theory framework, this study introduces an alternative means to spot “fuzzy reporting” signals as a way to detect greenwashing at the firm level. Its approach is based on the way the sustainability reporting process can mislead stakeholders after critical incidents take place. In order to do so, a single environmental incident, which took place in Colombia, is analyzed in light of what happened before, during and afterwards, with special emphasis on the corporate disclosure process performed by the company involved. Results obtained give support to the assumption that fuzzy reporting can be objectively detected not only through the analysis of annual sustainability reports, but also by tracking other forms of corporate messages when a specific concern is carefully followed. This study’s contribution is two-fold. First, it builds on the theoretical notions of greenwashing and fuzzy reporting by illustrating a practical and objective way to identify some deceiving corporate practices. Second, it empirically evaluates this approach in a sensitive context in order to obtain better illustration and prepare the groundwork for further studies.