Synthesising Corporate Responsibility on Organisational and Societal Levels of Analysis: An Integrative Perspective

This article develops an integrative perspective on corporate responsibility by synthesising competing perspectives on the responsibility of the corporation at the organisational and societal levels of analysis. We review three major corporate responsibility perspectives, which we refer to as economic, critical, and politico-ethical. We analyse the major potential uses and pitfalls of the perspectives, and integrate the debate on these two levels. Our synthesis concludes that when a society has a robust division of moral labour in place, the responsibility of a corporation may be economic (as suggested under the economic perspective) without jeopardising democracy and sustainability (as reported under the critical perspective). Moreover, the economic role of corporations neither signifies the absence of deliberative democratic mechanisms nor business practices extending beyond compliance (as called for under the politico-ethical perspective). The study underscores the value of integrating different perspectives and multiple levels of analysis to present comprehensive descriptions and prescriptions of the responsibility phenomenon

Comprehensive Evaluation of One-Carbon Metabolism Pathway Gene Variants and Renal Cell Cancer Risk

Folate and one-carbon metabolism are linked to cancer risk through their integral role in DNA synthesis and methylation. Variation in one-carbon metabolism genes, particularly MTHFR, has been associated with risk of a number of cancers in epidemiologic studies, but little is known regarding renal cancer.Tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) selected to produce high genomic coverage of 13 gene regions of one-carbon metabolism (ALDH1L1, BHMT, CBS, FOLR1, MTHFR, MTR, MTRR, SHMT1, SLC19A1, TYMS) and the closely associated glutathione synthesis pathway (CTH, GGH, GSS) were genotyped for 777 renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cases and 1,035 controls in the Central and Eastern European Renal Cancer case-control study. Associations of individual SNPs (n = 163) with RCC risk were calculated using unconditional logistic regression adjusted for age, sex and study center. Minimum p-value permutation (Min-P) tests were used to identify gene regions associated with risk, and haplotypes were evaluated within these genes.The strongest associations with RCC risk were observed for SLC19A1 (P(min-P) = 0.03) and MTHFR (P(min-P) = 0.13). A haplotype consisting of four SNPs in SLC19A1 (rs12483553, rs2838950, rs2838951, and rs17004785) was associated with a 37% increased risk (p = 0.02), and exploratory stratified analysis suggested the association was only significant among those in the lowest tertile of vegetable intake.To our knowledge, this is the first study to comprehensively examine variation in one-carbon metabolism genes in relation to RCC risk. We identified a novel association with SLC19A1, which is important for transport of folate into cells. Replication in other populations is required to confirm these findings

A school-based physical activity promotion intervention in children: rationale and study protocol for the PREVIENE Project

The lack of physical activity and increasing time spent in sedentary behaviours during childhood place importance on developing low cost, easy-toimplement school-based interventions to increase physical activity among children. The PREVIENE Project will evaluate the effectiveness of five innovative, simple, and feasible interventions (active commuting to/from school, active Physical Education lessons, active school recess, sleep health promotion, and an integrated program incorporating all 4 interventions) to improve physical activity, fitness, anthropometry, sleep health, academic achievement, and health-related quality of life in primary school children. The PREVIENE Project will provide the information about the effectiveness and implementation of different school-based interventions for physical activity promotion in primary school children.The PREVIENE Project was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (DEP2015-63988-R, MINECO-FEDER). MAG is supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivenes

Large-scale salmon farming in Norway impacts the epiphytic community of Laminaria hyperborea

Large-scale finfish farms are increasingly located in dispersive hard-bottom environments where Laminaria hyperborea forests dominate; however, the interactions between farm effluents and kelp forests are poorly understood. Effects of 2 levels of salmonid fish-farming effluents (high and low) on L. hyperborea epiphytic communities were studied by sampling canopy plants from 12 sites in 2 high-energy dispersive environments. Specifically, we assessed if farm effluents stimulated fast-growing epiphytic algae and faunal species on L. hyperborea stipes—as this can impact the kelp forest community composition—and/or an increased lamina epiphytic growth, which could negatively impact the kelp itself. We found that bryozoan biomass on the stipes was significantly higher at high-effluent farm sites compared to low-effluent farm and reference sites, resulting in a significantly different epiphytic community. Macroalgal biomass also increased with increasing effluent levels, including opportunistic Ectocarpus spp., resulting in a less heterogeneous macroalgae community at high-effluent farm sites. This habitat heterogeneity was further reduced by the high bryozoan biomass at the high-effluent sites. Such changes in the epiphyte community could have implications for the faunal community that relies on the epiphytes for food and refuge. On the kelp lamina, no clear response to farm effluents was found

Large-scale salmon farming in Norway impacts the epiphytic community of Laminaria hyperborea

Large-scale finfish farms are increasingly located in dispersive hard-bottom environments where Laminaria hyperborea forests dominate; however, the interactions between farm effluents and kelp forests are poorly understood. Effects of 2 levels of salmonid fish-farming effluents (high and low) on L. hyperborea epiphytic communities were studied by sampling canopy plants from 12 sites in 2 high-energy dispersive environments. Specifically, we assessed if farm effluents stimulated fast-growing epiphytic algae and faunal species on L. hyperborea stipes—as this can impact the kelp forest community composition—and/or an increased lamina epiphytic growth, which could negatively impact the kelp itself. We found that bryozoan biomass on the stipes was significantly higher at high-effluent farm sites compared to low-effluent farm and reference sites, resulting in a significantly different epiphytic community. Macroalgal biomass also increased with increasing effluent levels, including opportunistic Ectocarpus spp., resulting in a less heterogeneous macroalgae community at high-effluent farm sites. This habitat heterogeneity was further reduced by the high bryozoan biomass at the high-effluent sites. Such changes in the epiphyte community could have implications for the faunal community that relies on the epiphytes for food and refuge. On the kelp lamina, no clear response to farm effluents was found. </p

Human cytomegalovirus pp65 lower matrix protein: a humoral immunogen for systemic lupus erythematosus patients and autoantibody accelerator for NZB/W F(1) mice

Both the infection of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and the immunization of its recombinant glycoprotein (gB) in mice have been known to induce autoimmunity, resulting in symptoms similar to those of human systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Research has also found that the murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV)-specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) is able to react with a human U1-70K-like autoantigen. To investigate HCMV involvement in autoimmunity, we analysed the humoral responses to HCMV by autoimmune patients and normal adults. Our studies show unambiguously that sera from SLE patients exhibited an elevated IgG titre to HCMV when compared with those observed in controls and other connective tissue disease (CTD) patients (P < 0·001). The IgM titres to HCMV and IgG to HBV were evaluated, and no significant differences were noted among all testing groups. In addition to initiating T cell activity, as reported by many investigators, we found that the HCMV pp65 antigen (also known as lower matrix protein) was able to induce humoral responses in SLE patients. Immunoblot assays showed that 82·56% of sera from SLE patients reacted with the HCMV pp65 antigen, but only 11·11%, 23·53% and 31·17% of patients from normal control, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and CTD patients, respectively, reacted to it. Unlike HCMV pp65, HCMV pp150 induced B cell activity in most collected sera (92·22%-98·04%). Finally, female NZB/W F(1) mice immunized with plasmids encoding HCMV pp65 open reading frame (pcDNApp65) developed an early onset of autoantibody activity and more severe glomerulonephritis. Thus, we conclude that the HCMV pp65 antigen triggers humoral immunity in SLE patients and autoimmune-prone mice and that it could very well exacerbate the autoimmune responses in susceptible animals

Environment determines nitrogencontent and stable isotope composition in the sporophyte of Undaria pinnatifida (Harvey) Suringar

Nitrogen content and δ15N (nitrogen stable isotope ratio) were measured in different parts of the sporophyte of Undaria pinnatifida (Harvey) Suringar from two bays in the northeastern Japan. There were clear differences between the thalli collected in winter and in summer: high nitrogen content and low average δ15N were observed for the thalli collected in winter, while the opposite pattern was found for the thalli from summer. In addition, the pattern of internal δ15N distribution in the thallus changed with season. It is possible that the cause for these seasonal differences in the algae was the seasonal change in environmental conditions, because in winter water is normally rich in nitrogen, while in summer it is poor. U. pinnatifida sporophyte may be useful as an indicator of nitrogen sources in coastal waters, but consideration must be given to the effect of isotope fractionation on δ15N of the plant, especially in winter. Potential may exist for the use of different parts of the thallus to indicate nitrogen sources at different periods, but more investigation is necessary to accomplish this