R&D and eco-innovation: opportunities for closer collaboration between universities and companies through technology centers

It is widely accepted that eco-innovation is the direction to make progress towards a sustainable innovation. Public and private actors seem to share a common point of view and agreement on the benefits of implementing eco-innovation. If this is the case, why eco-innovative activities are still exceptional and exemplary instead of being the usual reasoning and inspiring driver for all kind of actions? Going in depth into the reasons why eco-innovation techniques are not broadly spread, the main one is the lack of internalization of this attitude in all the everyday actions taken by companies and employees in the form of social responsibility. Definitively, society as a whole is responsible for the eco-innovation promotion. Large companies have long ago incorporated Social Responsibility into their strategic planning and invest on innovation as a competitive advantage. However, they are reluctant to contribute to the eco-innovation. Therefore, universities and technology centers (TCs) have to play this role and link the private sector, specially medium, and small size companies, with the society needs. However, Universities are not often leading the eco-innovation initiative. Currently, in the case of Spain, it is observed a huge gap between the scientific research efforts made by the Public University and the academic offering and the real needs of the private companies. In fact, mixed structures as TCs are needed in order to overcome this disconnection, increasing opportunities for subsequent cooperation in eco-innovation projects. This paper points out the causes of the Spanish R&D and innovation lag, and highlights the reasons of the disconnection between public and private research for innovation, while giving hints on what is working fine and what needs to be reviewed to catch up with the R&D reference countries in Europe.     

Characterisation of composite edible films based on wheat starch and whey‐protein isolate

Composite films prepared by casting wheat starch and whey‐protein isolate at proportions of 100–0%, 75–25%, 50–50%, 25–75% and 0–100% were characterised. Combination of both substances gave continuous and homogeneous films. The more the starch is in a film, the more dull is the appearance. The highest water adsorption was observed for pure whey‐protein films and the lowest for pure wheat starch films with the final water content of 0.264 and 0.324 g water g d.m.^?1, respectively. An exponential equation well fitted the experimental data of water vapour kinetics (R² ≥ 0.99). The highest values of thickness and elongation at break were observed for films obtained by blending of wheat starch and whey protein. With the increasing content of whey‐protein isolate, the values of the swelling index and tensile strength increased from 34.31% to 71.01% and from 2.29 to 8.90 MPa, respectively. The values of water vapour permeability depended on humidity conditions and decreased slightly with the increasing content of whey‐protein isolate.     

Prevalence of sensitization to Cupressus sempervirens: a 4-year retrospective study

In the last few years Cupressus sempervirens has been identified as the cause of an increasing number of cases of late winter-early spring pollinosis in Mediterranean countries. We conducted a 4-year retrospective study of a large group of subjects with documented allergic respiratory disease in order to determine the prevalence, clinical significance and annual rate of sensitization to C. sempervirens pollen. Anamnestic data and skin prick tests (SPT) with common aeroallergens and C. sempervirens extract were collected from 1397 subjects (712 male and 685 female) resident in Latium, a region in central Italy, with complaints related to upper- or lower-respiratory-tract disorders or conjunctival disease. Two hundred and forty-three subjects (17.4%) showed positive results to C. sempervirens extract; 47 (19.3%) of them were monosensitized. The annual sensitization rate of SPT positivity to C. sempervirens varied from 7.2% in 1995 to 22% in 1998. All the subjects monosensitized to cypress pollen had symptoms from January through April. Our study suggests that sensitivity to C. sempervirens is responsible for respiratory symptoms in an increasing percentage of subjects. Further studies are needed to determine its frequency at the national level.     

喜来芝石中提取的腐植酸与阿司匹林的分子络合物及其表征

阿司匹林具有退热、消炎、止痛和抗血小板凝集的作用。乙酰水杨酸分子含一个羧基和一个酯基。酯基容易被水解,导致其药效降低,并会对人体产生副作用。本研究的目的是用冻干技术和溶剂挥发技术,以原料的物质的量比为1∶1和1∶2,制备阿司匹林和腐植酸固态络合物。阿司匹林和腐植酸分子间相互作用通过差示扫描量热法(DSC)、X射线衍射(XRD)、傅里叶变换红外光谱学法(FT-IR)和扫描电子显微镜法(SEM)进行研究。用这些技术能清晰表明固态包合络合物的结构。对物质的量比为1∶2冻干络合物研究表明,阿司匹林的稳定性和溶出率显著提高。优选的冻干阿司匹林与腐植酸(1∶2)络合物对抑制鼠爪水肿和抗溃疡作用测得的最低值(0.63±0.10)与单纯的阿司匹林相比,有明显的降低,证明用其治疗具有非常显著的抗炎作用(P0.05)。     

Electrode materials for ionic liquid-based supercapacitors

The use of ionic liquid (IL) electrolytes is a promising strategy to enhance the performance of supercapacitors above room temperature. In this paper we present the results of a study on optimization of electrode materials for IL-based supercapacitors featuring a hybrid configuration with carbon negative electrode and poly(3-methylthiophene) (pMeT) as positive operating at 60 °C with the ILs N-butyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (PYR₁₄TFSI) and 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (EMITFSI). As it concerns the carbon electrode two routes have been pursued: (i) surface modification of commercial activated carbon and (ii) synthesis of mesoporous cryo- and xerogel carbons. Pore size distribution and electrochemical characterization data are related and suggest that the second route should be the most promising for carbons of high specific capacitance and low time constant in IL. For the polymer electrode the nature of the galvanostatic polymerization bath plays a crucial role to provide pMeT of high specific capacitance and the best results may be obtained when pMeT is electropolymerized in the same IL used for the capacitance tests. The strategy of using the acid additive trifluoromethanesulfonimide in IL-based polymerization baths is also described in some detail. This strategy that provides pMeT featuring more than 200 F g⁻¹ in IL is a clean procedure which prevents consumption of the ionic liquid with great advantage in terms of costs.     

Information systems strategy: Past,present, future?

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the current discourse in the Strategic Information Systems (SIS) domain about the future and identity of SIS. We draw on Nelson’s theorisation of the co-evolution of Physical and Social Technologies to redefine the SIS domain as a Complex Adaptive System (CAS) for the co-evolution of ICT and organisational capabilities and business models to create social and economic value. We conduct a meta-analysis of the domain based on a longitudinal review of SIS research over 33 years, and contrary to contemporaneous SIS literature which suggests that a paradigm shift may be necessary to address the increased turbulence, uncertainty and dynamism in the emerging competitive landscape, we find that the SIS research domain has the requisite adaptive capacity to evolve gracefully to address the challenges of the emerging networked competitive landscape. Drawing on complexity science and network theory we identify four priorities for the development of the domain for the future: conceptualisation of the SIS Domain as a CAS for the co-evolution of Physical and Social Technologies; the adoption of the network paradigm; access to a science of networks; and adoption of Complexity Science as an articulation device within SIS and across disciplines.     

Life cycle assessment in buildings: The ENSLIC simplified method and guidelines

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is currently used to a very limited extent in the building sector, for several reasons. Firstly, making an LCA evaluation of a building demands a specific tool to handle the large dataset needed and this tool has to be adaptable to the different decisions taken throughout the life cycle of the building. Such tools have been developed in a few countries, but they are exceptions. However, useful experience has been gained in these countries, providing a valuable source of data for developing guidelines for application in other countries. Since the results of a building LCA may contain complex information, the great challenge is to devise efficient ways for communication of the results to users and clients.The simplified methodology presented in this paper adopt a systematic approach guiding the user through the Life Cycle process and clarifying key issues that usually cause difficulty, e.g. choice of assessment tool, definition of system boundaries, options for simplifying the process, etc. The guidelines were developed within the framework of the ENSLIC Building Project, which was co-funded by the European Commission Intelligent Energy for Europe Programme and by nine European organisations that included more than 15 LCA experts and architects.     

Combined use of cocoa dietary fibre and steviol glycosides in low‐calorie muffins production

Today, consumers are more conscious about nutrition and food products with health benefits. In this study, partial sucrose replacement (20%) with steviol glycosides derived from Stevia Rebaudiana and total replacement of cocoa powder with cocoa fibre preparation in muffins were conducted. There were three levels of dietary fibre addition – 3%, 6% and 12%. Physical analysis of texture, colour, cooking yield and porosity was conducted. Moreover, chemical analysis of total dietary fibre and total phenol content was made as well. Sensory evaluation in two parts was also carried out. The experiment revealed the increase in firmness, porosity, TDF and TCP and the decrease in springiness, cohesiveness and lightness. The best‐ranked sample in sensory evaluation was muffin with 6% of TDF sweetened with mixture of sugar and stevia. Stevia addition enhanced cocoa and sweet taste in tested muffins.