Managing Sustainability and Export Risks: The Case of Tasmanian Southern Rock Lobster

Lobster, Tasmania, China, sustainability, export, case study., Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

R&D Projects Fostering Small Firms’ Market-Sensing and Customer-Linking Capabilities: A Multivariate Statistics Approach

A large number of empirical studies have recently explored the processes and the conditions under agri-food companies acquire and develop market orientation (e.g. Martin et al. 2009), entrepreneurship (e.g. Holster 2008) and innovation (e.g. Verhees 2005), which have been proven to have a positive relationship with their performance (e.g. Micheels and Gow 2008). A much smaller number of studies focused on how agri-food firms can acquire the capabilities that are necessary to become market-oriented and innovative (e.g. Anderson & Narus 2007), specifically market sensing and customer linking (Day 1994). As a number of public-private partnership projects are attempting to enhance agri-food companies' market orientation and innovation, it is useful to identify which research and dissemination methods effectively develop these capabilities and under which conditions. To attempt to start filling this gap, this study analyses under which conditions public-private projects based on research and dissemination manage to foster market-sensing and customer-linking capabilities of small agri-food firms. Fostering these capabilities in small firms is particularly challenging, as they have limited resources to absorb the new information, learn and apply strategic changes as a result of the learning process. The case of five knowledge-building Seafood Cooperative Research Centre projects based on supply chain mapping and benchmarking methods with the oyster, wild prawn, farmed prawn and finfish industries provides the instrumental cases to the study. We collected data both quantitatively and qualitatively to gain more insight on the cause-effect relationship among variables (Eisenhardt 1989). Then, we analysed data with a structural equation model, whose multivariate statistic approach allows a rigorous analysis of the relationships between latent variables such as market-sensing and customer-linking capabilities and attitudes. Preliminary results can be summarized as follows. First, an estimation of profit margins that different customers make along the chain and an assessment of customers' needs, when customers' concentration and rivalry along the chain is low, are crucial to foster small farms' capabilities. Second, informal networks play a key role for fostering these capabilities from few small firms to the majority of the target.Agribusiness, Marketing,

Multi-Stakeholder Sustainability Alliances: A Signaling Theory Approach

Environmental Economics and Policy,

Multi-Stakeholder Sustainability Alliances in Agri-Food Chains: A Framework for Multi-Disciplinary Research

The IFAMR is published by (IFAMA)the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association. www.ifama.orgstakeholder, sustainability, alliances, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), partnerships., Agribusiness, International Relations/Trade, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, Q130,

Mitochondria-endoplasmic reticulum contacts in neuronal cells : from physiology to therapeutics

Mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) are intracellular organelles that play vital physiological functions. Mitochondria are key players in energy production through adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production and calcium (Ca2+) buffering, while the ER is involved in protein and lipid synthesis along with Ca2+ signalling in the cell. In the last 10 years scientists have realised the importance of intracellular organelle communication as a pivotal process for physiological functions. Among these interactions, mitochondria and ER functionally and structurally interact with each other forming mitochondria-ER contact sites (MERCS). Importantly, these structures oversee a variety of pathways including intracellular Ca2+ signalling. Indeed, ER to mitochondria Ca2+ shuttling has been shown to impact on mitochondrial respiration and bioenergetics. On the other hand, sustained increase in Ca2+ signalling between these two organelles can cause activation of apoptosis mediators leading to cell death. In Alzheimer´s disease (AD), cerebral hypometabolism, mitochondrial dysfunction, and functional and structural upregulation of ER to mitochondria apposition appear as early events in disease pathogenesis. Despite over 30 years of studies, the causes of AD are essentially unknown and only two symptomatic drugs have been approved for treatment, which means that AD leads to decline of quality of life and ultimately death. In this thesis, using human brain biopsies from idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) patients, mouse models of AD and cellular models, we investigated the role of mitochondria and MERCS in synapses and exocytotic mechanism and their role in the development of pathology in AD. Additionally, we have set up a high throughput screen (HTS) to find potential modulators of mitochondrial function with the overarching aim to find drugs to target neurodegeneration. In PAPER I, for the first time we have shown the presence of several organelle contact sites in human brain material and we have confirmed the presence of MERCS in human synapses. In this study we have also shown that patients suffering from dementia have more MERCS compared to non-demented patients. Furthermore, we have shown correlation of soluble Aβ levels, thought to be one of the initiators of AD, and MERCS number in iNPH patients. In PAPER II, through knockdown of Mitofusin 2 (Mfn2) in SH-SY5Y cells, a negative regulator of MERCS, we have detected substantial increased juxtaposition between ER and mitochondria. Upon Mfn2 knockdown, we have observed decreased levels of cytoplasmic vesicle and increased vesicle release upon cellular depolarization. Furthermore, we have shown that this mechanism was dependent on IP3Rs activity, an important channel for Ca2+ transfer from ER to mitochondria. In PAPER III we have characterised in vitro a novel knock-in model of AD, the AppNL-F model, which overcomes the problem of overexpressing amyloid precursor protein (APP). We have shown that embryonic cells derived from AppNL-F mice are capable of secreting levels of Aβ similar to adult brains, causing bioenergetics impairments, movement abnormalities along neurites and increased MERCS functions. Furthermore, these cells seem to be more susceptible to cell death upon inhibition of mitochondrial respiration compared to WT cells. In PAPER IV, we have assessed whether the other pathological protein in AD, tau, impacts on mitochondrial function and MERCS using the pure tauopathy model P301s. We detected that before tau pathology onset, at 22 days post-natal, animals displayed mitochondrial respiration dysfunctions and increase in MERCS. This pathology was sustained throughout mice life up to 10 months of age. In PAPER V, setting up a HTS platform evaluating mitochondrial enhancers, we have found luteolin, a natural compound from the flavonoid family, to be capable of increasing ATP production in vitro in SH-SY5Y cells and primary cortical neurons, and ex vivo in isolated mitochondria and synaptosomes. The ATP increase shown was due to increased ER to mitochondria juxtaposition and Ca2+ transfer. We have further tested luteolin in Huntington’s disease mutations bearing primary cortical neurons and C.elegans, showing improvement in respiration in vitro and recovery in movement in vivo. In conclusion, this thesis has contributed to expand the knowledge on the role of mitochondria and MERCS in synapses and in exocytotic mechanisms. We have further shown that MERCS and bioenergetics dysfunction occur early during the pathogenic development of disease in tau and amyloid AD models. We have also provided a platform for the study of drugs in neuronal cells, revealing luteolin as a promising enhancer of mitochondrial function

Brand Information Mitigating Negative Shocks on Animal Welfare: Is It More Effective to “Distract†Consumers or Make Them Aware?

To create and sustain a competitive advantage in markets that increasingly value animal welfare attributes, meat companies need to meet public and private production standards while communicating to final consumers through their brands. Data are collected from a representative sample of 460 U.S. residents through an on-line experiment on McDonald’s chicken breast sandwiches and analyzed with Latent Growth Modeling. This study assesses which content of positive brand information effectively mitigates the risk of negative information shocks on animal welfare. On average, brand information has the same positive impact on consumers’ beliefs and attitudes, regardless of whether it is related or unrelated to animal welfare. However, there is strong market segmentation in terms of consumers’ response when exposed to brand information, suggesting that brand managers would benefit from tailoring brand information according to consumers’ age, education, gender and income.animal welfare, brand, information, consumer behavior, multivariate statistics, Agribusiness, Livestock Production/Industries, Q1,

Evaluation of the tailings basins pollution potential

Tailings basins within mining areas may represent potential sources of environmental contamination for soil and underground water. In fact, the disposed muds are typically characterized by high concentration of heavy metals and other possibly dangerous compounds. The tailings basins built in Europe before the legal implementation of the EU Directive on the landfill of waste (Directive 99/31) were not provided with impermeable barriers. In such conditions, during the initial period of the basin life the liquid phase in the disposed residue filtrates throughout the solid phase under a unit vertical hydraulic gradient, reaching the soil underneath; afterword, when the accumulated mud forms an impermeable layer at the bottom of the basin, the same mud, under the load of the superimposed new strata, consolidates, ejecting liquids throughout the bottom. The article discusses the implementation criterion aimed at evaluating the conformity of old tailing basin to the new regulation on landfill of waste and a method for the calculation of the rate of polluted liquids released through the bottom of a tailing basin during its operative life and after its closure

Cross-Sector Partnerships and the Co-creation of Dynamic Capabilities for Stakeholder Orientation

This is the final version of the article. Available from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this record.This paper explores the relationship between business experience in cross-sector partnerships (CSPs) and the co-creation of what we refer to as ‘dynamic capabilities for stakeholder orientation,’ consisting of the four dimensions of (1) sensing, (2) interacting with, (3) learning from and (4) changing based on stakeholders. We argue that the co-creation of dynamic capabilities for stakeholder orientation is crucial for CSPs to create societal impact, as stakeholder-oriented organizations are more suited to deal with “wicked problems,” i.e., problems that are large, messy, and complex (Rittel and Webber, Policy Sciences 4:155–169, 1973; Waddock, Paper presented at the 3rd international symposium on cross sector social interactions, 2012). By means of a grounded theory approach of inductive research, we collected and interpreted data on four global agri-food companies which have heterogeneous experience in participating in CSPs. The results of this paper highlight that only companies’ capability of interacting with stakeholders continually increases, while their capabilities of sensing, learning from, and changing based on stakeholders first increase and then decrease as companies gain more experience in CSP participation. To a large extent, this can be attributed to the development of corporate strategies on sustainability after a few years of CSP participation, which entails a shift from a reactive to a proactive attitude towards sustainability issues and which may decrease the need or motivation for stakeholder orientation. These findings open up important issues for discussion and for future research on the impact of CSPs in a context of wicked problems

Experimental evaluation of PM emission from red mud basins exposed to wind erosion

The disposal of industrial and mineral processing residues represents a major concern for human health and the environment as a whole. In order to reduce the impact on soil and groundwater due to the waste leachability, the implementation of environmental regulations worldwide has favored the conversion of the disposal techniques from wet to dry (i.e., dry stacking or dry disposal). Such a change in the storage practice may cause the increase of particulate matter (PM) emission from the dry surfaces of the tailings exposed to wind erosion. Considering the significance of the environmental issue on a global scale and the increasingly stricter orientation of environmental policies, the need for modeling tools capable of estimating the contribution of tailing basins to air pollution becomes apparent. The paper deals with the disposal of red mud resulting from the bauxite processing in the alumina industry. An experimental research was carried with an environmental wind tunnel to estimate the Emission Factor (EF) of the basin surfaces as a function of the main affecting variables (i.e., residue water content and wind velocity). The article reports the results of the experimental test carried out on the red mud from a major basin located in Sardinia (Italy)

Just Desserts

Just Desserts started at a San Francisco café in 1974 with a premium line of hand-crafted desserts. It moved to Oakland in 2001 to increase its production, only to bankrupt in 2003. It was saved by a group of investors who hired professional, experienced manage, with Michael Mendez becoming CEO in 2012. Mendez moved into organics, revamped packaging, and has grown the company