This study examines how product innovation contributes to the renewal of the firm through its dynamic and reciprocal relation with the firm's competences Field research in five high-tech firms of varying age, size, and level of diversification is combined with analysis of existing theory to develop the findings of the study Based on the notion that new products are created by linking competences relating to technologies and customers, a typology is derived that classifies new product projects based on whether a new product can draw on existing competences, or whether it requires competences the firm does not yet have Following organizational learning theory, these options are conceptualized as exploitation and exploration These organizational learning concepts are used to gain a dynamic and path-dependent view of product innovation and firm development, and to reveal the unique nature and challenges of different types of product innovation Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

The dynamics of product innovation and firm competences

Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations PA N I S F I A T G u id e in e s o n fo o d fo r tific atio n w th m ic r o n u tr ie n ts Interest in micronutrient malnutrition has increased greatly over the last few years. One of the main reasons is the realization that micronutrient malnutrition contributes substantially to the global burden of disease. Furthermore, although micronutrient malnutrition is more frequent and severe in the developing world and among disadvantaged populations, it also represents a public health problem in some industrialized countries. Measures to correct micronutrient deficiencies aim at ensuring consumption of a balanced diet that is adequate in every nutrient. Unfortunately, this is far from being achieved everywhere since it requires universal access to adequate food and appropriate dietary habits. Food fortification has the dual advantage of being able to deliver nutrients to large segments of the population without requiring radical changes in food consumption patterns.

Guidelines on food fortification with micronutrients

Senescent and damaged mitochondria undergo selective mitophagic elimination through mechanisms requiring two Parkinson's disease factors, the mitochondrial kinase PINK1 (PTEN-induced putative kinase protein 1; PTEN is phosphatase and tensin homolog) and the cytosolic ubiquitin ligase Parkin. The nature of the PINK-Parkin interaction and the identity of key factors directing Parkin to damaged mitochondria are unknown. We show that the mitochondrial outer membrane guanosine triphosphatase mitofusin (Mfn) 2 mediates Parkin recruitment to damaged mitochondria. Parkin bound to Mfn2 in a PINK1-dependent manner; PINK1 phosphorylated Mfn2 and promoted its Parkin-mediated ubiqitination. Ablation of Mfn2 in mouse cardiac myocytes prevented depolarization-induced translocation of Parkin to the mitochondria and suppressed mitophagy. Accumulation of morphologically and functionally abnormal mitochondria induced respiratory dysfunction in Mfn2-deficient mouse embryonic fibroblasts and cardiomyocytes and in Parkin-deficient Drosophila heart tubes, causing dilated cardiomyopathy. Thus, Mfn2 functions as a mitochondrial receptor for Parkin and is required for quality control of cardiac mitochondria.

/pdf/pink1-phosphorylated-mitofusin-2-is-a-parkin-receptor-for-2cm6h874b2.pdf

PINK1- Phosphorylated Mitofusin 2 is a Parkin Receptor for Culling Damaged Mitochondria

▪ Abstract This review describes some recent, unexpected findings concerning variation in spatial language across cultures, and places them in the context of the general anthropology of space on the one hand, and theories of spatial cognition in the cognitive sciences on the other. There has been much concern with the symbolism of space in anthropological writings, but little on concepts of space in practical activities. This neglect of everyday spatial notions may be due to unwitting ethnocentrism, the assumption in Western thinking generally that notions of space are universally of a single kind. Recent work shows that systems of spatial reckoning and description can in fact be quite divergent across cultures, linguistic differences correlating with distinct cognitive tendencies. This unexpected cultural variation raises interesting questions concerning the relation between cultural and linguistic concepts and the biological foundations of cognition. It argues for more sophisticated models relating cult...

Language and space

After 1992 many conservation biologists thought that the use of economic instruments would be more effective to halt biodiversity loss than policies based on setting apart some natural spaces outside the market. At the same time there was a new elaboration of the concept of ecosystem services and, since 1997, there have been attempts at costing in money terms the loss of ecosystem services and biodiversity, including the high profile TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) project (2008-2011). Our discussion rests on instances showing the analytical implications of three main socio-economic meanings of biodiversity loss: 1) the loss of natural capital; 2) the loss of ecosystem functions; and 3) the loss of cultural values and human rights to livelihood. We review several approaches to include economic considerations in biodiversity conservation. We show cases where monetary valuation is relevant and other cases where it is controversial and even counterproductive, as it undermines the objectives of conservation.

https://ddd.uab.cat/pub/artpub/2013/123201/Rodriguez-Labajos_Economics_of_ecosystems_and_biodiversity_a2013.pdf

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity: Recent Instances for Debate

Piecing together the puzzle of rich civilization with information from recently translated hieroglyphs and archaeological record, Schele and Freidel offer a fascinating view of life in the New World before the arrival of the Europeans 16 pages of color photographs

A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya

A Masterful blend of archaeology, anthropology, astronomy, and lively personal reportage, Maya Comos tells a constellation of stories, from the historical to the mythological, and envokes the awesome power of one of the richest civilizations ever to grace the earth.

Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman's Path

An interim report

The Maya of Central America constitute the only truly literate pre-Columbian civilization. Analysis of ancient Maya hieroglyphic texts and accompanying images dating from the Classic period (A.D. 200–900) documents the presence of a central and pervasive institution of governance: ahaw. The material symbol systems of the Lowland Maya of the protoliterate Late Preclassic period (350 B.C.-A.D. 100), as evinced in monumental decorated buildings and in portable art, suggest that these Maya innovated ahaw, the institution of kingship. The authority of ahaw rested upon direct descent and spiritual communion with the ancestors of all Maya, the Ancestral Heroes. Along with noble lineage, ahaw claimed charismatic power through the performance of shamanistic ritual. The Late Preclassic antecedents of the shamanistic parameters of ahaw are discussed in light of Classic and Postclassic ritual expressions.

Kingship in the Late Preclassic Maya Lowlands: The Instruments and Places of Ritual Power

Historical Consciousness and the Ancient Maya A review of Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya, by S. Martin & N. Grube. London: Thames & Hudson; ISBN 0-500-15103-8 hardback, £19.95 & US$34.95, 240 pp., 368 ills. (86 col.)

David A. Freidel

Papers

A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya

Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman's Path

An interim report

Kingship in the Late Preclassic Maya Lowlands: The Instruments and Places of Ritual Power

Historical Consciousness and the Ancient Maya A review of Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya, by S. Martin & N. Grube. London: Thames & Hudson; ISBN 0-500-15103-8 hardback, £19.95 & US$34.95, 240 pp., 368 ills. (86 col.)