The sweet spot in sustainability: a framework for corporate assessment in sugar manufacturing

The assessment of corporate sustainability has become an increasingly important topic, both within academia and in industry. For manufacturing companies to conform to their commitments to sustainable development, a standard and reliable measurement framework is required. There is, however, a lack of sector-specific and empirical research in many areas, including the sugar industry. This paper presents an empirically developed framework for the assessment of corporate sustainability within the Thai sugar industry. Multiple case studies were conducted, and a survey using questionnaires was also employed to enhance the power of generalisation. The developed framework is an accurate and reliable measurement instrument of corporate sustainability, and guidelines to assess qualitative criteria are put forward. The proposed framework can be used for a company’s self-assessment and for guiding practitioners in performance improvement and policy decision-maki

Development and characterization of a new human hepatic cell line

The increasing demand and hampered use of primary human hepatocytes for research purposes have urged scientists to search for alternative cell sources, such as immortalized hepatic cell lines. The aim of this study was to develop a human hepatic cell line using the combined overexpression of TERT and the cell cycle regulators cyclin D1 and mutant isoform CDK4R24C. Following transduction of adult human primary hepatocytes with the selected immortalization genes, cell growth was triggered and a cell line was established. When cultured under appropriate conditions, the cell line expressed several hepatocytic markers and liver-enriched transcription factors at the transcriptional and/or translational level, secreted liver-specific proteins and showed glycogen deposition. These results suggest that the immortalization strategy applied to primary human hepatocytes could generate a novel hepatic cell line that seems to retain some key hepatic characteristics

Development and characterization of a new human hepatic cell line

The increasing demand and hampered use of primary human hepatocytes for research purposes have urged scientists to search for alternative cell sources, such as immortalized hepatic cell lines. The aim of this study was to develop a human hepatic cell line using the combined overexpression of TERT and the cell cycle regulators cyclin D1 and mutant isoform CDK4R24C. Following transduction of adult human primary hepatocytes with the selected immortalization genes, cell growth was triggered and a cell line was established. When cultured under appropriate conditions, the cell line expressed several hepatocytic markers and liver-enriched transcription factors at the transcriptional and/or translational level, secreted liver-specific proteins and showed glycogen deposition. These results suggest that the immortalization strategy applied to primary human hepatocytes could generate a novel hepatic cell line that seems to retain some key hepatic characteristics

Transcriptome analysis of porcine M. semimembranosus divergent in intramuscular fat as a consequence of dietary protein restriction

peer-reviewedBackground: Intramuscular fat (IMF) content is positively correlated with aspects of pork palatability, including flavour, juiciness and overall acceptability. The ratio of energy to protein in the finishing diet of growing pigs can impact on IMF content with consequences for pork quality. The objective of this study was to compare gene expression profiles of Musculus semimembranosus (SM) of animals divergent for IMF as a consequence of protein dietary restriction in an isocaloric diet. The animal model was derived through the imposition of low or high protein diets during the finisher stage in Duroc gilts. RNA was extracted from post mortem SM tissue, processed and hybridised to Affymetrix porcine GeneChip® arrays. Results: IMF content of SM muscle was increased on the low protein diet (3.60 ± 0.38% versus 1.92 ± 0.35%). Backfat depth was also greater in animals on the low protein diet, and average daily gain and feed conversion ratio were lower, but muscle depth, protein content and moisture content were not affected. A total of 542 annotated genes were differentially expressed (DE) between animals on low and high protein diets, with 351 down-regulated and 191 up-regulated on the low protein diet. Transcript differences were validated for a subset of DE genes by qPCR. Alterations in functions related to cell cycle, muscle growth, extracellular matrix organisation, collagen development, lipogenesis and lipolysis, were observed. Expression of adipokines including LEP, TNFα and HIF1α were increased and the hypoxic stress response was induced. Many of the identified transcriptomic responses have also been observed in genetic and fetal programming models of differential IMF accumulation, indicating they may be robust biological indicators of IMF content. Conclusion: An extensive perturbation of overall energy metabolism in muscle occurs in response to protein restriction. A low protein diet can modulate IMF content of the SM by altering gene pathways involved in lipid biosynthesis and degradation; however this nutritional challenge negatively impacts protein synthesis pathways, with potential consequences for growth.Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Ireland - Food Institutional Research Measur

Restoring Ureagenesis in Hepatocytes by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated Genomic Addition to Arginase-deficient Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.

Urea cycle disorders are incurable enzymopathies that affect nitrogen metabolism and typically lead to hyperammonemia. Arginase deficiency results from a mutation in Arg1, the enzyme regulating the final step of ureagenesis and typically results in developmental disabilities, seizures, spastic diplegia, and sometimes death. Current medical treatments for urea cycle disorders are only marginally effective, and for proximal disorders, liver transplantation is effective but limited by graft availability. Advances in human induced pluripotent stem cell research has allowed for the genetic modification of stem cells for potential cellular replacement therapies. In this study, we demonstrate a universally-applicable CRISPR/Cas9-based strategy utilizing exon 1 of the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase locus to genetically modify and restore arginase activity, and thus ureagenesis, in genetically distinct patient-specific human induced pluripotent stem cells and hepatocyte-like derivatives. Successful strategies restoring gene function in patient-specific human induced pluripotent stem cells may advance applications of genetically modified cell therapy to treat urea cycle and other inborn errors of metabolism

Mental sleep activity and disturbing dreams in the lifespan

Sleep significantly changes across the lifespan, and several studies underline its crucial role in cognitive functioning. Similarly, mental activity during sleep tends to covary with age. This review aims to analyze the characteristics of dreaming and disturbing dreams at dierent age brackets. On the one hand, dreams may be considered an expression of brain maturation and cognitive development, showing relations with memory and visuo-spatial abilities. Some investigations reveal that specific electrophysiological patterns, such as frontal theta oscillations, underlie dreams during sleep, as well as episodic memories in the waking state, both in young and older adults. On the other hand, considering the role of dreaming in emotional processing and regulation, the available literature suggests that mental sleep activity could have a beneficial role when stressful events occur at dierent age ranges. We highlight that nightmares and bad dreams might represent an attempt to cope the adverse events, and the degrees of cognitive-brain maturation could impact on these mechanisms across the lifespan. Future investigations are necessary to clarify these relations. Clinical protocols could be designed to improve cognitive functioning and emotional regulation by modifying the dream contents or the ability to recall/non-recall them

Firm size related to export performance

Purpose: This paper provides an overview of exporting firms, as a special case SMEs of the Republic of Kosovo, that are exporters based on relevant academic literature. Empirical evidence reveals that most of the SMEs, have positive relations with some determinants as the number of employees. To verify whether exporting is the first step in the process of internationalization, the findings of this study are linked with related literature on exporting aspects. This also offers a more in-depth understanding of the relation between variables used in the study and export performance. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper used quantitative data and face to face interviews with respondents. The descriptive statistics were calculated to give an overview of the distribution, mean and the standard deviation of the dataset. Internal consistency and reliability analysis on a Likert scale was performed using Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient. Findings: The firm size was shown to be highly statistically significant and positively related, indicating that the importance of economies of scale in the probability of being engaged in export is high. The obtained results from the conducted research on SMEs in Kosovo show that the dependency of managers’ education and training were corresponding with those attained when testing dependency of managers’ age and their international experience. Practical Implications: Development policy should be made towards the added value and growth of competitive competencies of SMEs in the domestic market and the external market, as well the process to take facilitating steps in exporting promotional activities. Agency for supporting SMEs should coordinate activities to improve the conditions for exporting enterprises by allowing access to public infrastructure. Originality/Value: This paper is summarized with some specific recommendations for the management of SMEs and for government institutions to improve export performance.peer-reviewe

The Impact of Strategies in Supply Chain Management for Better Performance in Manufacturing SMEs in Aguascalientes

This research aims to analyze the impact of the implementation of strategies in the the Supply Chain Management (SCM), Manufacturing for SMEs in Aguascalientes may have a higher yield. The analysis was performed through the design of an assessment tool aimed at managers through an empirical study in the period from August to December 2013. The methodology has been quantitative approach, as well as correlational and descriptive the sample is random. The expected results are intended to influence the decisions taken by the managers in their organizations to the SCM is still complex, it is more efficient through the implementation of strategies for increased output in manufacturing SMEs in Aguascalientes. In this sense, the expected results intended sizing how important the integration of strategies is in the practice of the SCM, and in turn, the impact of this influence on the Performance of Manufacturing SMEs. In this study, structural equation modeling technique was applied to support software EQS 6.

Shear resistance of rubber-ballast composites in simulated water and acid soaked conditions

Ballast is one of the main structures for the railway tracks. It can resist the lateral movement under dynamic loading transferred by the passing trains with repeatedly. Under some circumstances, ballast can suffer degradation or breakdown due to the repeated loading and maintenance. Ballast is easily exposed to the weather because it is laid on the track. Acid rain affects the performance of the railway track near the industrial and urban area. As a result, it starts to foul and the small chips from ballast filled the void, as well as reduce the shear strength of ballast particles. This situation can contribute into the increasing of maintenance frequency and costing. This paper examines the potential of rubber inclusions in increasing the shear resistance of rubber-ballast composites in simulated water and acid soaked conditions with several configuration. This lab-based exploratory work is only static load simulation in conventional shear box setup measuring 60 mm × 60 mm. The aggregates size is 10 times smaller than actual size of ballast. In order to identify the shear resistance deterioration of rubber-aggregates mixture under poor drainage conditions by soaked a batch of aggregates in water and acid solution for 2 weeks to simulate accelerated weathering effects. The shear resistance did not rise dramatically with the rubber reinforcement. This susceptible shear strain plots indicate ductile behaviour on the aggregates-rubber composites. This is evident by the linear rise of shear stress with strain up to approximately 10% for the control samples (CS) until it reaches a constant value. Note that all the specimens including CS are in a loose state during the testing because there were no tamping been applied on the samples. Overall the circular patch (CP) specimen was the most favourable than the other configurations. Both mechanisms contributed to the reduced overall subsistence, accompanied by an increase in the shear resistance. The inclusion of rubber elements apparently prevented the dilation of the granular material when approaching the shear failure and the reducing the settlement