The Mediating Effect of Cognitive Social Capital on Knowledge Acquisition in Clustered Firms

This paper analyzes the role played by the cognitive dimension of social capital on knowledge acquisition in clustered firms. We have applied a structural model to an empirical survey of the Spanish footwear industry. Findings detect a significant indirect effect of the district membership on knowledge acquisition through cognitive social capital development. In contrast with the assumption of direct and free access to common knowledge in territorial agglomerations, findings suggested that knowledge access depends on the capacity of the firms to share visions, goals, values, and culture with other actors in the local neighborhood. The social capital perspective provides a solid base to explain heterogeneity among firm members in the industrial district in order to access common knowledge and capacities. Findings suggested that institutions involved in a district must favour efforts to boost the collective representation as well as common goals and vision.     

A Territorial Articulation Index for Rural Areas Applied to Four Spanish Comarcas

This paper proposes a model for calculating a composite index to evaluate the internal territorial cohesion or articulation of rural areas, specifically rural Spanish comarcas (groups of municipalities with common geographic and historical characteristics). Evaluation is based on the optimum spatial distributions of their urban nuclei and access to roads by their inhabitants. First, we built the index for spatial distributions of urban nuclei in each comarca. Next, we constructed road accessibility indexes for all urban nuclei to each other and to the main urban nucleus (defined by the largest concentration of services). Based on these indexes, we developed an Internal Territorial Articulation Index (ITAI) that reflects the spatial distribution of the territory's urban nuclei in terms of their aggregation, internal accessibility within the comarca, and relationship with the main urban nucleus. The ITAI was applied to four Spanish comarcas in the province of Almería: Almería Alpujarra, Almanzora, Los Vélez, and Almería Poniente. The results are highly varied and allow areas with low degrees of territorial articulation or coherence to be identified either by the distribution of their urban nuclei or by their poor accessibility to roads. Results were unfavourable in mountainous regions with steep slopes and in areas furthest from the province's large urban nuclei. The conclusions may help develop settlement and road transport infrastructure strategies in these rural comarcas.     

The influence of diel vertical migration on zooplankton transport and recruitment in an upwelling region: estimates from a coupled behavioral-physical model

Diel vertical migration (DVM) is a common zooplankton behavior in which organisms reside in surface or near‐surface waters at night and at deeper depths during the day. In many upwelling regions, DVM reduces the transport of organisms away from the region. It is unclear, however, what role DVM plays in recruitment (the arrival of larvae or juveniles to locations where they will become reproducing adults) to upwelling regions. In this study, we estimate the influence of DVM on zooplankton transport, the level of recruitment of locally produced propagules (self‐recruitment), and sources of recruits in the upwelling region near Monterey Bay, California, by simulating the trajectories of fixed‐depth and vertically migrating organisms with a drifter‐tracking algorithm driven by climatological velocity fields from a three‐dimensional hydrodynamic model. Our simulations suggest that DVM into subsurface poleward and onshore currents during the day does not fully compensate for equatorward and offshore transport in the surface Ekman layer at night and does not retain zooplankton in the Monterey Bay region. Our simulations also suggest that DVM decreases the ability of zooplankton to return to the region after being transported away and shifts source regions for recruits closer to the bay. While DVM does not appear to substantially increase the potential for self‐recruitment to the region, this study indicates that other mechanisms, such as transport during non‐upwelling periods, continuous transport below the surface, increases in mean transport depth over time, or seasonal changes in hydrography, may still enable relatively high levels of self‐recruitment to this highly advective region.     

Generalized Apocrine Cystomatosis in an Old English Sheepdog

Résumé— Les kystes sudoripares multicentriques sont des affections rares chez le chien caractérisées par une hyperplasie multifocale kystique des glandes apocrines au niveau du cou et de la tête. Dans ce cas, nous décrivons un cas sévére de kystes sudoripares multicentriques généralisés chez un Bobtail. Bien que cette affection soit considérée comme un processus non-néoplasique, le comportement et l'histologie des lésions sont compatibles avec révolution d'une tumeur bénigne. En outre nous avons mis en évidence l'expression de récepteurs pour un facteur de croissance épidermique, puissant mitogéne de l'épithélium glandulaire. [Generalized apocrine cystamatosis in an Old English Sheepdog. (Kystes sudoripares généralisés chez un Bobtail.) Zusammenfassung— Apokrine Zystomatose ist eine seltene Erkrankung beim Hund, die durch eine multifokale zystische Hyperplasie der apokrinen Drüsen über Kopf und Hals gekennzeichnet. In diesem Bericht wird der Fall einer schweren generalisierten apokrinen Zystomatose bei einem Bobtail beschrieben. Obwohl dieser Zustand gewöhnlich als nicht-neoplastisches Geschehen eigenstuft wird, war das Verhalten und die Histologie der Veränderungen in diesem Fall mit einem gutartigen Tumor vergleichbar. Weiterhin wurde die Expression eines Rezeptors für den epidermalen Wachstumsfaktor entdeckt, der ein potentes Mitogen für die Drüsenepithelien darstellt und in sekretorischen Zellen apokrine Zysten umgibt. [Generalized aprocrine cystomatosis in an Old English Sheepdog (Generlisierte apokrine Zystomatose bei einem Bobtail). Abstract— Apocrine cystomatosis is an uncommon disorder in the dog characterized by multifocal cystic hyperplasia of apocrine glands over the head and neck. In this report, we describe a case of severe generalized apocrine cystomatosis in an Old English Sheepdog. Although the condition is usually regarded as a non-neoplastic process, the behaviour and histology of the lesions in our case are compatible with a benign tumor. Furthermore, we detected the expression of the receptor for epidermal growth factor, a potent mitogen for glandular epithelia, in secretory cells lining apocrine cysts.     

The Territorial Agglomerations of Firms: A Social Capital Perspective from the Spanish Tile Industry

ABSTRACT Using the Social Capital theoretical framework, territorial agglomerations of firms, such as in the industrial district, can be identified as dense strong‐tie networks and are thus suitable for exploiting activities. This paper addresses the possible exploring limitations of these clustered firms. Following alternative explanations, such as the structural holes and weak tie approaches, it is proposed that local institutions may play a role as intermediary agents between external disperse networks and internal dense networks, therefore enabling these firms to deal with the requirements of an ever‐changing environment. The paper also develops an empirical section where the Spanish ceramic tile industrial district is described in order to illustrate theoretical arguments. Findings suggested a number of ways in which local institutions may facilitate the creation of value for firms. Particularly, local institutions interact with many external firms and institutions and undertake research projects with local firms. In addition, some quantification of the participation of firms in the activities carried out by institutions is offered, suggesting explanations for the barriers that prevent firms from gaining direct access to external networks.