Cognitive radio systems specific for IMT systems: Operator’s view and perspectives

Cognitive radio (CR) is still an emerging and disruptive communication technology which is expected to improve the overall efficiency of the spectrum use. It is envisaged that cognitive radio systems (CRS) could impact many aspects of communications and in particular could facilitate accommodation of the increasing amount of services and applications in wireless networks. Intensive research on CR aims at maximising the utilisation of the limited radio spectrum resource. There have been many advances in CR regarding the technology development aspects; however supplementary research on regulation, policy and market structure reforms in relation with application specific deployment is still required before any CR-based spectrum access could be implemented for specific broadband mobile applications. Indeed, mobile community is still at an early stage of understanding and development of CR capabilities and it is premature to envisage wide deployment of CRS without careful consideration of regulatory and business issues. Therefore, this paper gives a classification of CR-based network and application scenarios, and investigates the feasibility of them from a regulatory perspective at a global level (ITU-R). Main part of this paper presents the wireless network operator’s approach to CRS specific for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) systems and proposes the radio environment map (REM) concept as a cognitive tool that increases environmental awareness in wireless network operator’s networks. Studies, which the authors performed internally and within the framework of a collaborative European project as well as within ITU-R yield the conclusion that, at shorter term, only intra-operator based CRS maximises the possibility for CR capabilities to be implemented.     

Effects of sexual harassment on employees’ family undermining: Social cognitive and behavioral plasticity perspectives

This study examined the effects of workplace sexual harassment on family undermining. The investigation focused on the mediating role of moral identity and the moderating role of organization-based self-esteem (OBSE). The results, which were based on employee-spouse dyadic data collected in China, indicated that employees’ perceptions of sexual harassment were negatively related to their sense of moral identity and positively related to family undermining behavior. Moreover, reduced moral identity mediated the relationship between sexual harassment and family undermining. Furthermore, OBSE attenuated the main effect of sexual harassment on moral identity and the indirect effect of sexual harassment on family undermining via reduced moral identity. Our findings offer insightful theoretical contributions and managerial implications that indicate new directions for research on sexual harassment and work-family relations.     

Rethinking the ‘mirroring’ hypothesis: implications for technological modularity,tacit coordination,and radical innovation

Studies of the ‘mirroring’ hypothesis have demonstrated the relationships between technological modularity and explicit coordination, yet little is known about the ‘mirroring’ relationship between technological modularity and tacit coordination, and how the ‘mirroring’ relationship may affect radical innovation. This paper contributes to the ‘mirroring’ hypothesis by identifying the interaction mechanisms embedded in and surrounded over the mirroring relationships. Using survey data of 121 high-tech firms in China, our study indicates that technological modularity enhances interfirm tacit coordination between module-makers (‘mirroring’ hypothesis), and will also positively influence radical innovation (‘outcome’ hypothesis). Moreover, tacit coordination negatively moderates the impact of technological modularity on radical innovation (‘interaction’ hypothesis), indicating that the ‘mirroring’ relationship may offset the benefit obtained from modularization. It also suggests that, in a high-technology industry in underdeveloped areas, tacit coordination could lead to exposure of hidden knowledge, thus lowering module-makers' motivation for technology breakthrough.     

The effect of smileys as motivational incentives on children’s fruit and vegetable choice,consumption and waste: A field experiment in schools in five European countries

To assess whether smiley stamps work as a motivational incentive to promote fruit and vegetable eating among children, we conducted a field experiment in ten primary schools in five European countries using one control and one treatment school per country. The six-week experiment was split into three two-week phases before, during and after the smiley was implemented. During the smiley phase, the children received a smiley stamp for choosing a portion of fruits or vegetables. We find an increase attributed to the smiley stamp on children’s fruit and vegetable choice and consumption, but also waste. Comparing the effects across countries, we observe significant variations in the smiley effect. This study thus demonstrates, in general, that a low-cost, easy-to-implement incentive such as a smiley stamp has the potential to motivate school children to increase their fruit and vegetable consumption; the study simultaneously underscores the high relevance of context for the effects of incentives.     

Why sustainable and ‘nutritionally correct’ food is not on the agenda: Western Sydney,the moral arts of everyday life and public policy

Within a context of delivering food security into the future, dietary guidelines are being reframed, corporations are replacing unsustainable products, and consumers are being encouraged to become ecological citizens. While there is a growing literature on the food practices of ‘alternative’ consumers, ‘mainstream’ consumers are less well understood. This paper describes qualitative research undertaken in a socio-economically disadvantaged area of Sydney, Australia, which aimed to uncover consumer views towards sustainable and healthy diets. Most participants indicated a discrepancy between their desired and actual behaviours: while they want to support Australian, or local, food producers they gravitate towards cheap and tasty food from ‘anywhere’; and while they associate nutritious food with fresh food, they will buy processed foods which can be less expensive, appeal to children and are prone to less waste. Reflecting mainstream Australian political culture, participants were compromising household food budgets in order to pursue a socially acceptable standard of living (including decent housing, car-reliance). They were also incorporating the pleasure and desires of family members as part of ‘the moral arts of everyday life’. Using social theories of consumption and practice sociology we argue that food choices and practices – easy or not – need to be interpreted as part of the role that consumption plays in political citizenship and moral subjectivity. In the Western Sydney context, food practices are essentially household budget and family nourishment practices rather than nutrition and sustainability practices; a position which is not addressed in the government’s new food policies or wage determination processes.     

The framing of innovation among European research funding actors: Assessing the potential for ‘responsible research and innovation’ in the food and health domain

Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) has recently emerged as a new framework for science and technology governance. The concept articulates the need for mutual exchange by which societal actors become responsive to each other early on in the process of innovation, with a view to facilitate ethically acceptable and sustainable innovation. There is relatively limited evidence to explore the extent to which the process of research and innovation under the terms of RRI is realised in practice, particularly in the context of food and health research. Although research to date has been examining innovation from the point of view of inputs and outputs—R&D funding and patents—we propose to examine the cognitive framing of innovation that shapes decisions of those who constitute a part of the innovation chain. This paper explores how the concept of innovation is understood and used in policy implementation, with a particular focus upon ‘food and health’ science and research policy and funding. Our analysis is based on 55 interviews of various actors engaged in research funding decision-making across eight European countries. Three themes emerged from the analysis: concept of innovation; conditions for innovation; and drivers of innovation; through these themes, the cognitive framing was drawn out. The cognitive framing suggests that innovation in the food and health domain is perceived to be focused on biosciences and marketable applications to the neglect of social sciences and broader public interest; that the “innovation network” is primarily viewed as centred around scientific/technical and industrial actors; and that the demand-pull dynamic is relevant to innovation in the area of food and health, despite having been relegated in contemporary thinking and policies around innovation. These findings point to the inadequate consideration of the normative issues—how problems are to be defined and addressed—among national research funders in the food and health domain, and indicate a gap between the ideas of innovation under the terms of RRI and innovation as conceptualised by those involved in its governance.     

Mapping alternatives: A commentary on Cova,B. et al. (2010). ‘Navigating between dyads and networks’

In this paper, we explore the mapping metaphor in its various guises within B2B marketing and, particularly, IMP research. We explore these multiple mapping techniques in terms of different mapping styles that point to different types of research journey, different sights along the way and different destinations. We critically appraise ‘dead mapping’ approaches, which we see as a persistent cause of getting lost and advocate ‘second order’ mapping as a more suitable alternative. We focus our critique upon Cova, Prévot, and Spencer (2010)'s paper ‘Navigating between dyads and networks’.     

A ‘Common Food Policy’ for Europe: How governance reforms can spark a shift to healthy diets and sustainable food systems

More than half of adults in the European Union (EU) are now either overweight or obese (53%). Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), many of which are diet-related, account for 70% of mortality in Europe and a growing share of healthcare costs. While eating habits have an important role to play in NCD prevention, consumption patterns across the EU are diverging significantly from recommended diets. There is growing consensus on the solution: a series of coordinated and wide-ranging policy interventions to build healthy ‘food environments’.This article argues that EU governance structures remain ill-adapted to the systemic nature of this and other challenges in food systems (e.g. climate change, biodiversity loss, food poverty): conflicting objectives and missed synergies are identified between different policy areas (agriculture, trade, health, environment, etc.) and between different levels of governance (EU, national, local). An integrated food policy framework – a ‘Common Food Policy’ – is therefore required to meet the EU’s public health and sustainability objectives. It identifies four distinct aspects of the governance shift required to promote healthy diets and build sustainable food systems in Europe: (i) coherence across policy areas; (ii) coherence across governance levels; (iii) governance for transition; and (iv) food democracy. Blueprints for a Common Food Policy are already emerging, and are ripe for consideration, development, and implementation by the European institutions.