Decentralized or centralized production : impacts to the environment, industry, and the economy

Since product take-back is mandated in Europe, and has effects for producers worldwide including the U.S., designing efficient forward and reverse supply chain networks is becoming essential for business viability. Centralizing production facilities may reduce costs but perhaps not environmental impacts. Decentralizing a supply chain may reduce transportation environmental impacts but increase capital costs. Facility location strategies of centralization or decentralization are tested for companies with supply chains that both take back and manufacture products. Decentralized and centralized production systems have different effects on the environment, industry and the economy. Decentralized production systems cluster suppliers within the geographical market region that the system serves. Centralized production systems have many suppliers spread out that meet all market demand. The point of this research is to help further the understanding of company decision-makers about impacts to the environment and costs when choosing a decentralized or centralized supply chain organizational strategy. This research explores; what degree of centralization for a supply chain makes the most financial and environmental sense for siting facilities; and which factories are in the best location to handle the financial and environmental impacts of particular processing steps needed for product manufacture. This research considered two examples of facility location for supply chains when products are taken back; the theoretical case involved shoe resoling and a real world case study considered the location of operations for a company that reclaims multiple products for use as material inputs. For the theoretical example a centralized strategy to facility location was optimal: whereas for the case study a decentralized strategy to facility location was best. In conclusion, it is not possible to say that a centralized or decentralized strategy to facility location is in general best for a company that takes back products. Each company’s specific concerns, needs, and supply chain details will determine which degree of centralization creates the optimal strategy for siting their facilities

Community Engagement in Two Fashion Merchandising and Apparel Design Curriculum Courses to Motivate Students to Learn about Sustainability Concepts

Learning about any concept, including sustainability, in the abstract is not very motivating. An elective and required course assigned classwork with nonprofit and business partners to motivate students to learn about sustainability. The elective course focused on textile waste, taught spring of 2015, partnered with Goodwill Industries to innovate new ideas to grow into business opportunities for unsold donated apparel and textiles. Student assignments were a technical feasibility, economic feasibility, poster presentation, and business plan to remake or remarket Goodwill\u27s discarded and unsold apparel and textiles. A second course, Merchandise Planning, was taught in spring of 2016 and partnered with one nonprofit Water is Life Kenya and two women owned businesses that sell jewelry and accessories. Student assignments were product pricing and a 6-month merchandise plan. Student work and media coverage of the community engagement collaborations in the two courses show engaged students that demonstrate understanding of sustainability concepts

From The Heavens to the Markets: Development, Nation, and the Mediation of Water in Northwest China

Over the past 20 years the relationship between peasants and water in the semi-arid Zuli Valley of Northwest China has been radically altered by a series of state-backed development projects. 20 years ago peasant grew primarily rain-fed subsistence crops and relied on centuries-old rainwater harvesting techniques for their domestic water supplies. Following a series of state-backed interventions, peasants today grow primarily cash crops and depend on state-backed projects for their domestic water supplies. These changes were brought about through development projects. In the Reform and Opening Period a series of spatial hierarchies has emerged--westernness, rurality, and poverty--that categorized certain regions of China as backwards and in need of modernization through state-backed development. The Zuli valley was categorized as backwards based on each of these criteria, and the solution to its poverty was believed to be solving the problem of water shortages. As a result, a series state actors aimed to change how peasants related to water by providing irrigation water, changing the crops that they grew, improving rainwater harvesting technology, and providing running water. This dissertation examines these changes from the perspective of the governance of the aleatory--the element of risk and chance. The aleatory is an important, yet underdeveloped, element of Foucault\u27s examination of governmentality. Each of the interventions made in human relationships with water in the Zuli Valley was designed to reduce the chances of or ameliorate the effects of potential water shortages. Yet, each of the programs ultimately shifted risk to other areas, particularly variations in market prices and the dependability of state water supplies

The Iowa Homemaker vol.21, no.3

Freshmen – Please Note, page 2 Hospital Research, Ann Koebel, page 3 Orchids to Pat, page 4 The Army Eats Well, Mary I. Barber, page 5 Making Things Grow, Betty Ann Iverson, page 6 Look Before You Snap, Kathryn Monson, page 7 Major Departments on Review, Elizabeth Murfield, page 8 Patriotic Sally, Patricia Hayes, page 10 What’s New in Home Economics, Dorothy Olson, page 12 Summer Job Holders Reap Experience, page 14 A List of Don’ts, Costume Design Class, page 15 We Salute Campus Leaders, Margaret Kirchner, page 16 Home Economics Looks to Future, M. L. Morton, page 17 Behind Bright Jackets, Julie Wendel, page 18 Alums in the News, Mary Elizabeth Sather, page 20 Nutrition for Defense, Dorothy Ann Roost, page 22 That Personal Touch, Margaret Ann Clarke, page 23 Journalistic Spindles, Elizabeth Hanson, page 2

Influence of outdoor rearing and oleic acid supplementation on lipid characteristics of muscle and adipose tissues from obese Alentejano pigs.

Data evaluating the effect of oleic-acid- enriched diets and outdoor rearing (with access to pasture) on the quality of Alentejano (AL) pork and fat are limited. The aim of this work was to study the effects of feeding low (LO) or high oleic acid (HO) diets to AL pigs reared in individual pens (IND) or outdoors (OUT) with access to pasture. Biceps femoris and dorsal subcutaneous fat (DSF) samples were collected to analyse chemical composition and lipids fatty acid (FA) profile. The expression of seven genes involved in lipogenesis, lipolysis and FA transport, as well as two transcription factors were also evaluated in the muscle. B. femoris and DSF presented lower lipid content in OUT-reared than in IND-reared pigs. Two genes involved in lipogenesis, ACACA and FASN, were under-expressed in B. femoris from OUT-reared pigs, while two involved in lipolysis, LPL and HSL were over-expressed. HO diet also significantly reduced FASN expression. Both rearing system and diet affected the FA profile of tissues, particularly DSF. Overall, OUT-reared pigs presented lower n6 to n3 FA ratios in all tissues, and lower monounsaturated (MUFA) and higher polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) content in DSF. When compared to LO-fed ones, HO-fed pigs presented higher oleic acid proportions in all tissues, and lower SFA, higher MUFA and PUFA levels, as well as lower saturation, atherogenic and thrombogenic indexes in DSF. This study shows that rearing system and oleic acid supplementation have complementary effects and influence the nutritional quality of pork and DSF

Progress in dark tourism and thanatourism research: An uneasy relationship with heritage tourism

This paper reviews academic research into dark tourism and thanatourism over the 1996–2016 period. The aims of this paper are threefold. First, it reviews the evolution of the concepts of dark tourism and thanatourism, highlighting similarities and differences between them. Second it evaluates progress in 6 key themes and debates. These are: issues of the definition and scope of the concepts; ethical issues associated with such forms of tourism; the political and ideological dimensions of dark tourism and thanatourism; the nature of demand for places of death and suffering; the management of such places; and the methods of research used for investigating such tourism. Third, research gaps and issues that demand fuller scrutiny are identified. The paper argues that two decades of research have not convincingly demonstrated that dark tourism and thanatourism are distinct forms of tourism, and in many ways they appear to be little different from heritage tourism

Effects of Anacetrapib in Patients with Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease

BACKGROUND: Patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease remain at high risk for cardiovascular events despite effective statin-based treatment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. The inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) by anacetrapib reduces LDL cholesterol levels and increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, trials of other CETP inhibitors have shown neutral or adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 30,449 adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive atorvastatin therapy and who had a mean LDL cholesterol level of 61 mg per deciliter (1.58 mmol per liter), a mean non-HDL cholesterol level of 92 mg per deciliter (2.38 mmol per liter), and a mean HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg per deciliter (1.03 mmol per liter). The patients were assigned to receive either 100 mg of anacetrapib once daily (15,225 patients) or matching placebo (15,224 patients). The primary outcome was the first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction, or coronary revascularization. RESULTS: During the median follow-up period of 4.1 years, the primary outcome occurred in significantly fewer patients in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (1640 of 15,225 patients [10.8%] vs. 1803 of 15,224 patients [11.8%]; rate ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 0.97; P=0.004). The relative difference in risk was similar across multiple prespecified subgroups. At the trial midpoint, the mean level of HDL cholesterol was higher by 43 mg per deciliter (1.12 mmol per liter) in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (a relative difference of 104%), and the mean level of non-HDL cholesterol was lower by 17 mg per deciliter (0.44 mmol per liter), a relative difference of -18%. There were no significant between-group differences in the risk of death, cancer, or other serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive statin therapy, the use of anacetrapib resulted in a lower incidence of major coronary events than the use of placebo. (Funded by Merck and others; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN48678192 ; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01252953 ; and EudraCT number, 2010-023467-18 .)