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This study aims to present the digital library Galician virtual library (BVG, for “Biblioteca Virtual Galega”) in Galician.

The paper shows the objectives pursued by the BVG, its development, putting special emphasis on the main technological challenges, and presents some data about its usage.

A digital library can be used to stimulate a lesser‐used language and to promote the culture and tourism of a region.

The paper shows how a digital library can be used to strengthen the Galician language, which is currently categorised as a “Lesser Used Language” in the European Community and to contribute to the preservation and spreading of Galician culture and literary works, either from current authors or from previous documents. It also provides a digital publishing house for new authors and opens a communication channel between current authors and their readers. Finally, it helps to connect a scattered community like the Galician, offering a centralised access point to any information about Galicia. This work also presents some technological innovations included in the BVG, especially from the viewpoint of user interface design and search by content.

This paper aims to focus on Brazilian business fairs primarily attended by metalworking companies.

Using a qualitative and exploratory approach, data were collected through semi-structured interviews answered by exhibitor companies from two of the most relevant Brazilian states in this industrial sector: Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul.

The results recognize the four pillars of the interorganizational relationship developed among exhibitors at business fairs and launch serious implications for the effective development of business fairs as spaces of interorganizational relationship and of value creation.

This is the first study discussing the trade fairs of the Brazilian emerging industry related to the metal-mechanic sector of two of the most significant states in the country: Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina.

This study examines the consequences of stigmatization that occurred during a tuberculosis outbreak concentrated among Puerto Rican clients enrolled in a Chicago drug treatment center. Using ethnographic methods, I examine three factors that contributed to the stigmatization of those with TB. One factor concerns the fear elicited by the deadly disease that aroused reactions among Puerto Rican community members that were derived from earlier experiences. A second factor involves traditional public health measures enacted in response to the outbreak that facilitating labeling of those with TB, further fueling stigmatization. A third factor concerns the re‐articulation of group boundaries occurring among drug program inhabitants, whereby TB‐impacted persons were marginalized in order to reaffirmed the status of others whose identity had been compromised by the epidemic. The study’s implications for public health are discussed and suggestions are offered for developing innovative intervention approaches.

Contemporary literature reveals that, to date, the poultry livestock sector has not received sufficient research attention. This particular industry suffers from unstructured supply chain practices, lack of awareness of the implications of the sustainability concept and failure to recycle poultry wastes. The current research thus attempts to develop an integrated supply chain model in the context of poultry industry in Bangladesh. The study considers both sustainability and supply chain issues in order to incorporate them in the poultry supply chain. By placing the forward and reverse supply chains in a single framework, existing problems can be resolved to gain economic, social and environmental benefits, which will be more sustainable than the present practices.

The theoretical underpinning of this research is ‘sustainability’ and the ‘supply chain processes’ in order to examine possible improvements in the poultry production process along with waste management. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and ‘design science’ methods with the support of system dynamics (SD) and the case study methods. Initially, a mental model is developed followed by the causal loop diagram based on in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and observation techniques. The causal model helps to understand the linkages between the associated variables for each issue. Finally, the causal loop diagram is transformed into a stock and flow (quantitative) model, which is a prerequisite for SD-based simulation modelling. A decision support system (DSS) is then developed to analyse the complex decision-making process along the supply chains.

The findings reveal that integration of the supply chain can bring economic, social and environmental sustainability along with a structured production process. It is also observed that the poultry industry can apply the model outcomes in the real-life practices with minor adjustments. This present research has both theoretical and practical implications. The proposed model’s unique characteristics in mitigating the existing problems are supported by the sustainability and supply chain theories. As for practical implications, the poultry industry in Bangladesh can follow the proposed supply chain structure (as par the research model) and test various policies via simulation prior to its application. Positive outcomes of the simulation study may provide enough confidence to implement the desired changes within the industry and their supply chain networks.

The study aims to assess the impact of disruptive frugal digital technology and small and medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs') innovation performance on the food sector in Masvingo urban, Zimbabwe. A descriptive research design was used, and quantitative data were obtained using a questionnaire survey on 50 restaurant employees and 100 customers. The empirical findings demonstrated that the performance of SMEs was significantly improved by social media, cloud computing, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and robotics. The study concludes that disruptive digital technologies (social media, cloud computing, AR, VR and robots affect the performance of SMEs by improving food production, streamlining information transfer, and utilizing cutting-edge technical applications. This chapter recommends that the government, through those in charge of formulating policy, educate and encourage the adoption of disruptive digital technology. The application of social media, cloud computing, VR, AR, and robotics will increase local food producers' access to the market. Digitalization will have a significant effect on Zimbabwe's local food system in the future.

The case of food poisoning which affected some 150 persons at Derby appears to be undoubtedly a genuine case of ptomaine poisoning. During the last few years many isolated deaths have occurred, after the consumption of some particular kind of food, which have been attributed to ptomaine poisoning, but the evidence put forward in support of this view has not unfrequently been open to grave doubt. At Derby, however, the nature of the outbreak and the symptoms presented by the patients were characteristic, and if further proof were needed it would be contributed by the interim report of Dr. SHERIDAN DELEPINE, of Manchester, who made an examination of the suspected pies and their ingredients. Most people are fully acquainted with the history of this out break, which was not confined to Derby but extended to various parts of the country, in every case the persons attacked having consumed portions of the infected pork pies. Dr. DELEPINE has issued an interim report in which he states that he has isolated a bacillus belonging to the colon group which is, in his opinion, undoubtedly responsible for the pathogenic properties of the pies. The evidence as to the relation of the bacillus to the epidemic is, says Dr. DELEPINE, absolutely clear. The bacillus in question has been isolated from a pork pie, from a pork bone pie, from the blood, spleen and intestines of one of the persons who died, and from the blood, spleen, bile and intestines of several animals which have died in two or three days from the effects of feeding on a pork pie. The bacilli obtained from all these sources were identical in appearance. Animals inoculated with this bacillus have died, and in their blood the same bacillus has been again found; and four specimens of blood obtained from patients who had been ill after eating a portion of a pork pie have given, on examination, a clear serum reaction, but the blood of normal persons and also of patients affected with typhoid fever has given no similar clear serum reaction. Dr. DELEPINE has also been able to ascertain the presence of the same bacillus in a pork pie which Dr. ROBERTSON, of Sheffield, had sent him. This statement appears to leave no room for doubt as to the dangerous nature of the pies, and Dr. DELEPINE's complete report will be awaited with considerable interest.

This study aims to present a methodological framework to evaluate the relationship between social network centrality, individual competitiveness and network competitiveness.

Tilapia fish farmers in the Canoas I hydroelectric dam (states of São Paulo and Paraná, Brazil) were provided with a roster of all actors in their network and interviewed to obtain information on relational and competitiveness variables. UCINET was used to calculate the degree centrality of each farmer. Seven competitiveness drivers were combined into a single indicator to determine the level of competitiveness. A four-quadrant matrix was constructed to investigate the relationship between degree centrality and level of competitiveness.

A positive relationship was found between degree centrality and level of competitiveness.

Agents upstream or downstream of fish farming were not interviewed, precluding an in-depth analysis of competitiveness in terms of market structure and market relations. The authors suggest that future studies should investigate the influence of upstream and downstream agents on the social network and competitiveness of fish farmers. It is also important to monitor changes in the level of competitiveness of fish farmers in the event of a national economic crisis.

Development of a novel methodological framework on the basis of two methodologies, social network analysis and competitiveness analysis.

This study aims to examine the evolution of three science, technology and innovation parks (STIPs) located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from the perspective of the university–industry–government linkages.

This is a multiple case study organized in two stages: first, bibliographic and documentary research to develop a theoretical framework and description of the innovation environments; and second, interviews and forms filling with 13 managers and stakeholders, combined with participant observation. The analysis and assessment of the evolution of each environment are based on a tool named Amaral’s Model for Innovation Environment Management (AMIEM).

There are critical issues for the development of STIPs, namely, governance structure, government participation and the relationship with knowledge sources such as universities. The time of existence is not a significant factor in reaching evolution. Although common factors are present in all environments, local particularities, specific characteristics, regional vocations, management leadership and other elements have an impact on park performance.

AMIEM is an assessment tool and a technological product, useful in mapping and evaluating innovation environments.

STIPs are dynamic and maturing, requiring active management and engagement with government and companies.

The results allow a better comprehension of the evolution and management of the STIPs located in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Another contribution lies in the organization of information to design public policies.

The paper positions social and technological innovation as pivotal counterforces to conservative resistance against change, particularly in light of the recurrent economic and technological upheavals characterizing the present shape of capitalism.

The research adopts a qualitative methodology, rooted in a comparative case study approach, offering a critical retrospective analysis of societal disruptions and transformations. Central to this methodological framework is the construct of sensemaking, which is characterized as the process by which collective entities retrospectively develop plausible narratives that rationalize their experiences. The approach is informed by the dynamics of socio-ecological systems, which are understood to undergo cyclical phases of growth, stabilization, collapse, and regeneration.

The study shows evidence that resilience and adaptability are more authentically gauged by socio-technological responses to cyclical disruptions and recoveries. It delineates sensemaking as a crucial socioecological mechanism through which elicitation emerges and societies and organizations navigate these cycles, forging shared narratives from collective experiences that are driven by plausibility rather than mere accuracy.

The research calls for the development of policies that synthesize disruptive innovations with strategies for social cohesion. Such policies must ensure the protection of the socioeconomic texture from implicit structural precariousness arising from innovation. The ability to integrate and institutionalize change is emphasized as crucial, demanding a synergy between innovative creativity, new normative frameworks, and the preservation of fundamental societal values.

The paper challenges reductionist technological interpretations of societal changes, advocating for a holistic perspective that accounts for the redistributive and elicitation roles as vital to the evolution of socio-economic systems. The value of this research lies in its comprehensive framing of these transformations, underscoring the importance of a multi-faceted understanding in the effective management of socioeconomic change.

This study aims to understand if and how European digital innovation hubs (DIHs) filling the role of knowledge brokers (KBs) can support the digital transformation (DX) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by triggering open innovation (OI) practices.

After presenting a conceptual model of reference, a survey and a subsequent in-depth interview were conducted to capture evidence from Italian DIHs. These structures were selected for their growing importance, as confirmed by the National Plan for Industry 4.0.

The findings highlight that Italian DIHs act not only as KBs but also as knowledge sources that give rise to a digital imprinting process that is able to shape the DX of SMEs.

Research on knowledge sharing and OI has mainly focused on large firms. The study covers the gaps identified in the literature by considering the role of KBs in enabling SMEs to embrace DX.