Search results for "medium"
showing 10 items of 3746 documents
The performance of entrepreneurial small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises
2012
Innovation is an important driver of economic growth for it leads to new products and services, enhanced quality, and lower prices. In an increasingly competitive global market, innovation turns out to be essential to secure a viable competitive position. Although there is no perfect correspondence between accounting intangible assets and innovation activities, the association between these two concepts is close enough to take investment in intangible assets as a proxy for entrepreneurship and innovation. To identify differences between innovative and non‐innovative small and medium enterprises in the service industry, both descriptive and statistical analyses are performed on financial dat…
Small family business performance: comparison between family and non-family enterprises
2010
This study compares small family business performance between the Finnish family and non-family enterprises. The sample (2,004 firms) was derived to represent nationally small businesses, in collaboration with the Statistics Finland (Centre) in Helsinki. The answer rate of the study was 90% (data collected by mail questionnaires and telephone interviews). The method of the study was to compare family and non-family enterprises with ROA (return on assets) on an enterprise population level (Finland). The results of the study show that most of the small family businesses are controlled by the founder generation. Founder generation performance was slightly higher than among descendant generatio…
Entrepreneurship and small businesses in Russia: A review of empirical research
2011
PurposeEntrepreneurship and small businesses in Russia have been of academic interest for over 15 years. This paper seeks to bring together current knowledge concerning the phenomenon, and to suggest further directions for research.Design/methodology/approachThe study consists of a systematic review of 48 refereed empirical articles on entrepreneurship and small businesses in Russia.FindingsFrom the articles reviewed it appears that entrepreneurs in Russia use non‐material resources to overcome the financial and institutional obstacles, which still seem to afflict the market. However, theoretical and methodological issues are, in many cases, poorly reported and this undermines the scientifi…
OPENNESS AND KNOWLEDGE AS LEADING TENDENCIES IN DEVELOPMENT OF MICRO ENTERPRISES
2012
Small and micro businesses are the key elements of market economy and most dynamic, flexible business sales form. Establishment and development of micro enterprises are a necessary condition for forming normal economic environment, what promotes manufacturing goods and competition between service companies. Micro enterprises are important source of work-places, create spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation in European Union and therefor are essential for strenghtening empoyment and competition. Lately there are heard a lot of speeches in media about importance of small and medium enterprises in the European Union and national level, but rarely are mentioned that most of these enterprises…
Entrepreneurship and SMEs Innovation in Romania
2014
Abstract The aim of this article is to present some theoretical connections between entrepreneurship, innovation and small and medium medium-sized enterprises highlighting the role of these business for the economic recovery. It will provide a brief overview of the CNIPMMR study pointing out data about Romanian SMEs innovation activities and use of information technology in such enterprises. Some recommendations for public policies are presented at the end of the paper.
Trace element fractionation through halite crystallisation: Geochemical mechanisms and environmental implications
2019
Halite is an important mineral for industry, agriculture and food production. It crystallises after water evaporation, while the progressive growth of dissolved metal ions in brines is occurring. Then, halite exploitation may provide the delivery of metal ions in the environment and the mechanism of this trace element accumulation should be studied. In this work we investigate the distribution of lanthanides and Y (hereafter named Rare Earth Elements, REE), Zr and Hf between crystallising halite and brines in the Dead Sea as geochemical tools for recognising the mechanism of metal ion removal from brines and accumulation in halite. Halite forms cubic crystals where octahedral planes sometim…
BIOALGA reactor: preliminary studies for heavy metals removal
2002
Abstract Microalgae have a high affinity for polyvalent metals, for that reason they could be used to reduce the concentration of heavy metals present in water and wastewater. In the present work an evaluation of a rotary biofilm reactor for algae immobilization (BIOALGA) with the subject of heavy metal removal was investigated. The BIOALGA reactor consisted of a pilot scale model that was operated with synthetic wastewater with an initial concentration of 3000 μg/l of cobalt ion. Scenedesmus obliquus was immobilized in the reactor, which was operated in batch mode for a period of 20 days. The rotary velocity used, 2 rpm, was constant during the experiment. A maximum removal of cobalt ion o…
Evaluation of clogging in full-scale subsurface flow constructed wetlands
2016
Abstract Treatment processes that occur in constructed wetlands can result in gradual clogging of the porous medium. Clogging may result in hydraulic malfunction and/or reduced treatment performance. The aim of this study was to analyze the hydraulic aspects of horizontal subsurface flow (H-SSF) constructed wetlands (CWs), and, in particular, to investigate the clogging phenomena through in situ measurements of hydraulic conductivity of the gravel bed, quantification of accumulated clog matter and flow paths visualization by means of tracer tests. Removal efficiencies of chemical and physical contaminants were also assessed. Experiments were carried out in three full-scale H-SSF CWs in Sici…
Specific detection of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers in phytoplankton DNA by a non-radioactive assay based on T4-endonuclease V digestion.
2001
The effect of artificial and natural UV irradiation on DNA in marine phytoplankton Isochrysis galbana monoculture was investigated. The presence of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) in unlabelled I. galbana DNA was detected by a non-radiometric alkaline filter elution assay after T4-endonuclease V digestion. The quantity of CPDs was estimated by alkaline agarose gel electrophoresis. Precise determination of the amount of DNA in the presence of I. galbana pigments was achieved by oxazole yellow homodimer (YOYO) dye. T4-endonuclease V-sensitive sites frequency (ESS/kb), measured after exposure to 2-40 kJ m(-2) of artificial UV light, increased in a dose-dependent manner. Twelve hours after…
Colloidal stability of nanoparticles derived from simulated cloud-processed mineral dusts
2013
AbstractLaboratory simulation of cloud processing of three model dust types with distinct Fe-content (Moroccan dust, Libyan dust and Etna ash) and reference goethite and ferrihydrite were conducted in order to gain a better understanding of natural nanomaterial inputs and their environmental fate and bioavailability. The resulting nanoparticles (NPs) were characterised for Fe dissolution kinetics, aggregation/size distribution, micromorphology and colloidal stability of particle suspensions using a multi-method approach. We demonstrated that the: (i) acid-leachable Fe concentration was highest in volcanic ash (1mMg−1 dust) and was followed by Libyan and Moroccan dust with an order of magnit…