The Role of Trust in European Food Chains: Theory and Empirical Findings

In Europe, consumer trust in food has become one of the most important factors for the stability of the food sector. An essential prerequisite for the ability to communicate the trustworthiness of food to consumers (B2C) is the creation, maintenance, and communication of trust between companies across the entire food value chain (B2B). For the management and preservation of trust in food chains it is important to know whether differences occur across European countries or whether distinct product chains show variations regarding trust. Based on a survey in five European countries with 747 respondents, this paper assesses the current level of trust between companies together with its influencing structural factors in European food chains and determines criteria allowing the active management of the level of trust in business relations in food chains by estimating a structural equation model.trust, levels of trust, determinants to trust, food chain management, trust management, Agribusiness, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

RISE, a Tool for Holistic Sustainability Assessment at the Farm Level

Sustainability must be adopted as a key principle in global markets. Numerous studies have been conducted to evaluate the degree of sustainability on a national and local level. However, only little information for single farm assessment is currently available. The present paper introduces a tool, the "Response-Inducing Sustainability Evaluation" (RISE), which allows an easy assessment at the farm level. It is system-oriented and offers a holistic approach for advice, education and planning. The model covers ecological, economical and social aspects by defining 12 indicators for Energy, Water, Soil, Biodiversity, Emission Potential, Plant Protection, Waste and Residues, Cash Flow, Farm Income, Investments, Local Economy and Social Situation. For each indicator a "State" (S) and a "Driving force" (D) are determined from direct measures of a number of parameters. The "State" indicates the current condition of the specific indicator, higher values are more desirable, and the "Driving force" is a measure of the estimated pressure the farming system places on the specific indicator; in this case lower values are desirable. D and S are standardized on a 0 to 100 scale; a perfect indicator would be identified by S=100 and D=0, whereas significant challenges would be captured by a combination of a low S and a high D. The degree of sustainability (DS) of each indicator is defined as DS= (S-D), bound by construction to the -100 to +100 range. The overall results are summarized and displayed in a sustainability polygon. In addition to this polygon a strength/weakness profile is determined for 1) the stability of the social, economic and ecological framework, 2) farmer's risk awareness and risk management measures, 3) grey energy in machines, buildings and external inputs, 4) animal health and welfare. RISE has been tested and used to evaluate very different farms in Brazil, Canada, China and Switzerland. Results are considered relevant with regard to the objective stated. Further testing, adaptation and fine-tuning is under way. A similar model covering the supply chain to the factory gate is also under development.Sustainability assessment, Sustainability at the farm and crop level, Indicators of sustainability, Driving Force - State - Response (DSR) - model, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management,

Fernsehen und Elternbildung

„Was Hänschen nicht lernt, lernt Hans nimmermehr." Dieses Wort aus dem Volksmund dürfte in der heutigen Zeit des allgemeinen Umbruchs im ganzen Daseinsraum immer mehr an Bedeutung verlieren. J. Baudrexel schreibt in seinem Aufsatz „Bildung - das Feld der Entscheidung": „Längst hat uns die Pädagogik darüber belehrt, daß wir die Bildungsfähigkeit und die Leistungsfähigkeit des jugendlichen Menschen überschätzt und die des Erwachsenen unterschätzt haben, daß das Studium immer Sache des reifen und lebenserfahrenen Erwachsenen war, weil die entscheidenden Probleme des Lebens, des menschlichen Zusammenlebens . . . weitgehend außerhalb des Erfahrungs- und Verständnisbereiches des Jugendlichen liegen. (...)EnglishFormation of man doesn't finish with school. All his life he must learn. The uncertaincommon situation of our times gives a lot of problems to our parents. Teleclubs are an exellent possibility for discussing such problems. Alltogether in such clubs parents search for solutions and get practical consequences for daily life. In order to maintain the best possible results, the head of such a teleclub has to prepare himself through written documents or taped material as good as possible. This material should be made available through a central office for audio-visual aids

Energy transport between critical one-dimensional systems with different central charges

Energy transport can reveal information about interacting many-body systems beyond other transport probes. In particular, in one dimension it has been shown that the energy current is directly proportional to the central charge, thus revealing information about the degrees of freedom of critical systems. In this work, we explicitly verify this result in two cases for translationally invariant systems based on explicit microscopic calculations. More importantly, we generalise the result to non-translation invariant setups and use this to study a composite system of two subsystems possessing different central charges. We find a bottleneck effect meaning the smaller central charge limits the energy transport

Endoscope-assisted resection of brainstem cavernous malformations

Targeted surgical precision and minimally invasive techniques are of utmost importance for resectioning cavernous malformations involving the brainstem region. Minimisation of the surgical corridor is desirable but should not compromise the extent of resection. This study provides detailed information on the role of endoscopy in this challenging surgical task. A retrospective analysis of medical documentation, radiologic studies and detailed intraoperative video documentation was performed for all consecutive patients who underwent surgical resection of brainstem cavernous malformations between 2010 and 2020 at the authors’ institution. A case-based volumetry of the corticotomy was performed and compared to cavernoma dimensions. A total of 20 procedures have been performed in 19 patients. Neuroendoscopy was implemented in all cases. The mean size of the lesion was 5.4 (± 5) mm3. The average size of the brainstem corticotomy was 4.5 × 3.7 (± 1.0 × 1.1) mm, with a median relation to the cavernoma’s dimension of 9.99% (1.2–31.39%). Endoscopic 360° inspection of the resection cavity was feasible in all cases. There were no endoscopy-related complications. Mean follow-up was 27.8 (12–89) months. Gross-total resection was achieved in all but one case (95%). Sixteen procedures (80%) resulted in an improved or stable medical condition. Eleven patients (61.1%) showed further improvement 12 months after the initial surgery. With the experience provided, endoscopic techniques can be safely implemented in surgery for BSCM. A combination of neuroendoscopic visualisation and neuronavigation might enable a targeted size of brainstem corticotomy. Endoscopy can currently be considered a valuable additive tool to facilitate the preparation and resection of BSCM

Proximity-induced spin ordering at the interface between a ferromagnetic metal and a magnetic semiconductor

14 páginas, 5 figuras.-- PACS number8s): 73.40.Sx, 75.70.-iWe carry on a theoretical investigation of the conditions for the appearance and/or modification of spin ordering in a dilute magnetic semiconductor that is in contact with a ferromagnetic metal. We show that the magnetic proximity effect has a rather complex physical nature in this system. Allowing for the hybridization between the ferromagnetic metal and semiconductor electron states, we calculate the spin polarization and spin susceptibility of carriers in the semiconductor layer near the contact. The peculiar mechanism of indirect exchange coupling that occurs between local spins dissolved in the semiconductor host when a dilute magnetic semiconductor is in contact with a ferromagnetic metal is analyzed. The structure of the proximity-induced ordering of local moments in a dilute magnetic semiconductor is qualitatively described within a mean-field approach. On the basis of our results, we interpret the experimental data on Fe/(Ga,Mn)As and Py/(Ga,Mn)As layered structures.The work was partially supported by the University of the Basque Country [Proyecto GV-UPV/EHU under Grant No. IT-366-07), Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (Grant No. FIS2007-66711-C02-01)] , and by RFBR (Grant No. 10-02-00118). S.C. also acknowledges financial support by PRIN 2007 under Project No. 2007FW3MJX003. V.V.T. acknowledges financial support by Ikerbasque (Basque Foundation for Science).Peer reviewe

Pointed-end capping by tropomodulin3 negatively regulates endothelial cell motility

Actin filament pointed-end dynamics are thought to play a critical role in cell motility, yet regulation of this process remains poorly understood. We describe here a previously uncharacterized tropomodulin (Tmod) isoform, Tmod3, which is widely expressed in human tissues and is present in human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1). Tmod3 is present in sufficient quantity to cap pointed ends of actin filaments, localizes to actin filament structures in HMEC-1 cells, and appears enriched in leading edge ruffles and lamellipodia. Transient overexpression of GFP–Tmod3 leads to a depolarized cell morphology and decreased cell motility. A fivefold increase in Tmod3 results in an equivalent decrease in free pointed ends in the cells. Unexpectedly, a decrease in the relative amounts of F-actin, free barbed ends, and actin-related protein 2/3 (Arp2/3) complex in lamellipodia are also observed. Conversely, decreased expression of Tmod3 by RNA interference leads to faster average cell migration, along with increases in free pointed and barbed ends in lamellipodial actin filaments. These data collectively demonstrate that capping of actin filament pointed ends by Tmod3 inhibits cell migration and reveal a novel control mechanism for regulation of actin filaments in lamellipodia

Plant diversity effects on plant longevity and their relationships to population stability in experimental grasslands

Identifying to what degree inherent characteristics of plant species and their variation in response to their environment regulate the temporal stability of plant populations is important to understand patterns of species coexistence and the stability of ecosystems. Longevity is a key characteristic of plant life history and an important component of demographic storage, but age is usually unknown for herbaceous species. In a 12-year-old biodiversity experiment (Jena Experiment) comprising 80 grassland communities with six levels of plant species richness (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 60 species) and four levels of functional groups richness (1, 2, 3 and 4 functional groups), we studied populations of 38 dicotyledonous forb species (N = 1,683 plant individuals). The sampled individuals represented three plant functional groups (legumes, small herbs and tall herbs) and two different growth forms (species with long-lived primary roots and clonal species with rhizomes/stolons). We assessed the age of plant individuals by means of growth ring analysis and related the age of plant populations to their temporal stability in terms of peak biomass production. On average, plant species richness did not affect the mean age of the populations or the maximum age of individuals found in a population. Age of herbs with taproots increased and age of herbs with clonal growth decreased with increasing species richness, cancelling out each other when growth forms were analysed together. Mean population age was lowest for small herbs and highest for tall herbs, while legumes had an intermediate population age. Herbs with a taproot were on average older than herbs with a rhizome. Across all species-richness levels, populations with older individuals were more stable in terms of biomass production over time. Synthesis. Our study shows for the first time across multiple species that the longevity of forbs is affected by the diversity of the surrounding plant community, and that plant longevity as an important component of demographic storage increases the temporal stability of populations of grassland forb species