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An investigation into the process of cross‐fertilisation on MBA programmes is reported. An interview schedule was devised as a basis for discussions with a sample from each of three MBA programme types: open, in‐company and consortial. It was concluded that: learning from and acting upon ideas gained from fellow set members is seen as an important element in the MBA programme by associates: cross‐fertilisation tends to be recognised and recalled mainly in terms of personal skills; open sets would potentially appear to be a better medium for fostering cross‐fertilisation, but in‐company sets are more empowering in ensuring the implementation of ideas from such cross‐fertilisation as does occur, while consortial sets would appear to combine the best of both worlds – though no evidence emerged to support this last contention. Recommendations are made for further research.

This paper aims to explore how the cross-fertilization of knowledge and technologies in EU-funded research projects, including serious games and gamification, is influenced by the following variables: multidisciplinarity, knowledge base and organizations (number and diversity). The interrelation of actors and projects form a network of innovation. The largest contribution to cross-fertilization comes from the multidisciplinary nature of projects and the previous knowledge and technology of actors. The analysis draws on the understanding of how consortia perform as an innovation network, what their outcomes are and what capabilities are needed to reap value.

All the research projects including serious games and/or gamification, funded by the EU-Horizon 2020 work programme, have been analyzed to test the hypotheses in this paper. The study sample covers the period between 2014 and 2016 (June), selecting the 87 research projects that comprised 519 organizations as coordinators and participants, and 597 observations – because more organizations participate in more than one project. The data were complemented by documentary and external database analysis.

To create cross-fertilization of knowledge and technologies, the following emphasis should be placed on projects: partners concern various disciplines; partners have an extensive knowledge base for generating novel combinations and added-value technologies; there is a diverse typology of partners with unique knowledge and skills; and there is a limited number of organizations not too closely connected to provide cross-fertilization.

First, the database sample covers a period of 30 months. The authors’ attention was focused on this period because H2020 prioritized for the first time the serious games and gamification with two specific calls (ICT-21–14 and ICT-24–16) and, second, for the explosion of projects including these technologies in the past years (Adkins, 2017). These facts can be understood as a way to push the research to higher technology readiness levels (TRLs) and introducing the end-user in the co-creation and co-development along the value chain. Second, an additional limitation makes reference to the European focus of the projects, missing strong regional initiatives not identified and studied.

This paper has attempted to explore and define theoretically and empirically the characteristics found in the cross-fertilization of collaborative research projects, emphasizing which variables, and how, need to be stimulated to benefit more multidisciplinary consortia and accelerate the process of innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate both nutrient and phytochemical content of Swiss chard grown under different fertilization and irrigation treatments and the effect of these treatments on the tested parameters.

Samples of fresh Swiss chard were collected from the experimental field of Ljeskopolje, Montenegro, where chard was grown under different fertilization and irrigation treatments. Swiss chard samples were analyzed for nutritional and antioxidant parameters.

In this study, the authors found that 100 g of Swiss chard is a good source of total chlorophyll (47.13 mg), carotenoids (9.85 mg), minerals as well as vitamin C (26.88 mg) expressed as mean values. Total phenol and flavonoid compounds content were (138.59 µg gallic acid equivalent (GAE) and 11.91 µg catechin equivalent (CAE) per mg of water extract, respectively), also expressed as mean values. The total antioxidant capacity (IC50 values) determined by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl assay ranged from 2.93 to 4.44 mg/mL of aquatic water extract. Different fertilization regimes affected the following parameters: phosphorous, protein content, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and vitamin C (p<0.05), while different irrigation regimes did not have any effect on the tested parameters (p>0.05), while interaction effect between fertilization and irrigation was found only for sodium and copper (p<0.05).

Swiss chard produced in Montenegro on a sandy clay loam soil with acid reaction contains appreciable amount of minerals, crude fibers, vitamin C, chlorophylls, carotenoids and polyphenols. The nutrient and phytochemical content of chard is equal or superior to other green leafy vegetables which are considered as functional food. It was identified as a potentially rich source of essential nutrients and phytochemical compounds. The promotion of higher consumption and production of Swiss chard may represent a natural and sustainable alternative for improving human health.

A current estimate of the cost of reducing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by Ocean Nourishment is provided. A scenario of fertilisation of the ocean in regions of excess phosphorous, carried out using a ship to distribute ammonium hydroxide, is examined.

Ocean fertilisation could be deployed to draw down the carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere and store it for millennia in the deep ocean.

The costs of fertilising the ocean with macronutrient depends mostly on the cost of producing the nutrient and the cost of its delivery. Macronutrient fertilisation has been calculated, for a particular scenario, to cost US$20 per tonne of carbon dioxide emission avoided for 100 years.

There is a collateral benefit of increased fish stocks, which is not considered here. The ocean, plausibly, has the capacity to sequester more than one Gigatonne per year of carbon (∼3.7 Gt CO2/yr) via macronutrient fertilisation.

This modest cost of reducing climate change justifies further research and development of ocean macronutrient fertilisation.

The modest cost allows climate change to be addressed without serious economic disruption.

The study reported is a contribution to mitigation of climate change.

The technological innovations in the field of human reproduction which have been advancing at a dizzying pace, especially in Israel, have posed complex ethical dilemmas for social workers and social scientists. Do these developments, particularly in vitro fertilisation, offer a feasible solution for infertile couples or are they at the same time creating difficult, intricate problems whose outcome has yet to be clarified? Is it not paradoxical that attempts to “assist” nature by artificial means have led to such results as the birth of a child to a 60‐year‐old woman from eggs donated by another woman?

The purpose of this paper is to determine the polyphenol content, antioxidative potential and antiproliferative activity of Swiss chard from Montenegro, grown under different irrigation and fertilization regimes.

Swiss chard was grown in the open field (Lješkopolje, Montenegro) where it was subjected to different fertilization and irrigation regimes. Chard samples were analyzed for previously identified polyphenols and for antioxidant parameters. Additionally, in order to complete the biological activities, chard extracts were tested for antiproliferative activity against MFC-7 and HT-29 tumor cell lines.

The polyphenols identified in Swiss chard were flavonoids: vitexin-2?-O-xyloside, vitexin-6?-O-acetyl-2?-O-xyloside, vitexin-6?-O-malonyl-2?-O-xyloside and isorhamnetin-3,7-diglucoside. In the antioxidant tests, DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl), and ABTS (2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)), chard extract had values of 7.00 and 8.50 (mean values) µmol Trolox (6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxylic acid) equ/d.w., respectively. The tested chard extracts inhibited cell proliferation at different concentrations (3.125–50.0 µg/mL) against the MCF-7 cell line, after 24 and 48 h of incubation. The antiproliferative activity, expressed in terms of IC50, was 32.97 and 86.45 µg/mL after 24 h of incubation and 20.76 and 23.33 µg/mL after 48 h of incubation, for treated and untreated chard extracts, respectively.

These data suggest Montenegrin Swiss chard grown under different irrigation and fertilization treatments can be considered as a functional food and should be included in an everyday diet. The collected data could help in the growth improvement of chard with functional food properties.

There is an urgent need to develop climate-smart agrosystems capable of mitigating climate change and adapting to its effects. Conventional agricultural practices prevail in Mauritius, whereby synthetic chemical fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides are used. It should be noted that Mauritius remains a net-food importing developing country of staple food such as cereals and products, roots and tubers, pulses, oil crops, vegetables, fruits and meat (FAO, 2011). In Mauritius, the agricultural sector faces extreme weather conditions like drought or heavy rainfall. Moreover, to increase the crop yields, farmers tend to use 2.5 times the prescribed amount of fertilizers in their fields. These excess fertilizers are washed away during heavy rainfall and contaminate lakes and river waters. By using smart irrigation and fertilization system, a better management of soil water reserves for improved agricultural production can be implemented. Soil Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium (NPK) content, humidity, pH, conductivity and moisture data can be monitored through the cloud platform. The data will be processed at the level of the cloud and an appropriate mix of NPK and irrigation will be used to optimise the growth of the crops. Machine learning algorithms will be used for the control of the land drainage, fertilization and irrigation systems and real time data will be available through a mobile application for the whole system. This will contribute towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): 2 (Zero Hunger), 11 (Sustainable cities and communities), 12 (Responsible consumption and production) and 15 (Life on Land). With this project, the yield of crops will be boosted, thus reducing the hunger rate (SDG 2). On top of that, this will encourage farmers to collect the waters and reduce fertilizer consumption thereafter sustaining the quality of the soil on which they are cultivating the crops, thereby increasing their yields (SDG 15).

This chapter explores the adaptation and evolution of stand-alone CSR reporting in two different political economies and late-capitalist countries: Brazil and South Korea. Instead of selecting between new institutionalism and the varieties of capitalism (VOC) approach, this study attempts to explore how the interaction between converging and diverging pressures appears in the adaptation and evolution of stand-alone CSR reporting (i.e., cross-fertilization process) in two countries.

Using qualitative content analysis this study focuses on the frameworks of CSR reports and the way CSR issues are described within the stand-alone CSR reports of four telecommunication companies in Brazil and South Korea.

Even though CSR reports in both countries have become similar due to the convergence of frameworks of CSR reporting, the key themes and the representation on each theme are still embedded within each form of market economy: a hierarchical market economy (HME) in Brazil and a network market economy (NME) in South Korea. From a cross-fertilization perspective, this chapter shows that the adaptation and evolution of CSR reporting occurs at two different levels of CSR reporting.

This study has three major values. First, it explains the two different levels of the adaptation and evolution process of CSR reporting by bringing a dynamic cross-fertilization view. Second, it provides a qualitative study that focuses on the content of CSR disclosures instead of the quantity of those disclosures. Lastly, it contributes to the academic and practical research on CSR in late-capitalist countries and in two under-researched types of political economies.

While the peer effects of technology adoption are well established, few studies have considered the variation in peer effects resulting from the mutual proximity between leaders and followers and the heterogeneity of farmers' learning technology. This study addresses the gap in the literature by analyzing the peer effects of technology adoption among Chinese farmers.

Drawing on a government-led soil testing and formulated fertilization program, this study uses survey data of farmers from three Chinese provinces to examine the peer effects of technology adoption. This study uses a probit model to examine how mutual proximity influences peer effects and their heterogeneity. Accordingly, farmers were divided into two groups, namely small- and large-scale farmers, and then into leaders or followers depending on whether they were selected by the government as model farmers.

Both small- and large-scale farmers are more likely to use formula fertilizer if their peers do so. However, a large-scale farmer is more likely to adopt formula fertilizer if the average adoption behavior of other large-scale model (leader) farmers is higher, while a small-scale farmer is more likely to adopt formula fertilizer if other small-scale non-model (follower) farmers have higher average adoption behavior. Moreover, the peer effect was weakened by geographic distance among small-scale farmers and by economic distance among large-scale farmers.

This study elucidates the means of optimizing social learning and technology adoption among farmers.

The present study aims to determine the residue levels in the soil and water prior to, and after fertilization, as previous soil investigations in Kuwait indicated that different types of fertilizers are used leaving residues in the soil, in order to assist the prospective farmers in choosing environmental sound chemicals for each crop. The importance of the following is to determine the geologic conditions of the soil in such a productive farm area and the effect of the use of fertilizers.

To achieve the study purpose soil and water samples were collected over a wide area and chemical parameters (pH, electrical conductivity (ECe), cations (Ca⁺², Mg⁺²), and anions (CO₃⁻²,HCO₃⁻,Cl⁻)) were obtained via the suitable and most appropriate chemical analyses.

The soils have several levels of calcareous contents along with varying salinity and alkalinity. Before fertilization on average, soil ECe ranges from 0.93 to 4.37 mS/cm, pH from 7.4 to 7.60, cations 8.00 to 36.00 meq/l, and anions from 4.85 to 29.61 meq/l. After fertilization pH ranges from 7.09 to 7.47, ECe ranged from 3.79 to 12.85 mS/cm, cations ranges from 29.75 to 66.36 meq/l, and anions ranges from 15.18 to 63.32 meq/l; showing that ECe, cations and anions average values has increased by almost three to four orders of magnitude. Furthermore, ECe, pH, cations, and anions values have sharply increased with depth. The evidence from this study shows that vertical leaching adversely contributes to the deterioration of the groundwater quality and rate.

The output of this study is intended to be the building block or the nuclei for a data bank on the prevailed agricultural practices in different aspects, and upon which further studies on the southern area of Kuwait will depend.

The farm areas in the southern region of Kuwait state (case study: Al‐Wafrah farms) suffer from misuse and mismanagement of the agricultural lands in different aspects. This paper provides new source of information on the historical record of farm development and the nature, performance and results of the associated agricultural practices in such areas, as so to be the base or the starting point form which further studies can go forth.