Restaurant wholesalers’ role and participation in a local food network : A comparative case study of two Swedish restaurant wholesalers

The implications of globalisation of food systems have led to a reconciliation of local food systems in modern times. As the local food systems have started to increase, it can still be seen that the conventional food supply chain is dominating the market. This is derived from the fact that local food systems are often inefficient due to the individualistic nature of the smaller, less complex local food collaborations. Presented solutions to break the inefficiency trend and harvest the benefits of local food systems is to use the efficient restaurant wholesale actor as a "trade vehicle". This, combined with local food networks that unite small-scale farmers and increase the product pool to ensure quantity while adding value to an otherwise homogeneous product by the concept of "local". This could potentially result in more local collaborations and thereby increase local food on the market. By conducting two semi-structured interviews with two of Sweden's largest restaurant wholesalers and analysing the results with conventional content analysis, this study aims to generate more knowledge about the role and participation of restaurant wholesalers in a local food system. Therefore, a comparative case study was conducted to identify the studied cases' differences, similarities, and contrasts. Furthermore, this is achieved through a theoretical perspective involving supply chain and value chain theory, which is developed into a theoretical synthesis based on Chopra & Meindls (2013) theory of finding the strategic fit. This study found that the collaboration between a restaurant wholesaler and local food networks is highly uncertain, whereas the conventional food supply chain is predictable. But also that there are differences in how responsive/efficient the studied restaurant wholesalers act within the same business environment. Finally, it was found that the restaurant wholesaler and local food networks do not directly have a strategic fit. The research questions are discussed to fulfil the study's aim, which leads to the conclusions of the restaurant wholesalers' role and participation in a local food system. The significant findings are that the role of the studied restaurant wholesaler is not to meet customer niche needs but to create value through efficiency by operational activities related to distribution, logistics, and coordination among the involved supply chain actors. However, the wholesalers also exhibit responsiveness towards their customer preferences for local food in alternative ways even if it does not suit their business strategy. The results show that one wholesaler meets these customer preferences by conducting business that does not contribute to adding value and is therefore inefficient. In comparison, the other wholesaler participates in a complex network of other more specialised wholesalers that focus on meeting customer preferences

Spilling the tea on tea

Te har druckits i flera tusen år och är idag en av världens populäraste drycker. Det här arbetet är en litteraturstudie med syfte att ge en inblick i teodlingens historia och utbredning, de viktigaste geografiska och klimatiska faktorerna för teodling, vanligt förekommande odlingsåtgärder och skördemetoder. Te-plantan Camellia sinensis har sitt ursprung i södra Kina och fram tills ganska nyligen rådde stor osäkerhet gällande de olika varieteternas släktskap. Idag odlas C. sinensis på flera kontinenter, främst Asien och Afrika. Viktiga geografiska faktorer som påverkar odlingen är altitud, sluttning, jordmån och pH. Även väderförhållanden har stor inverkan och omfattar faktorer som temperatur, ljus, nederbörd och vind. Camellia sinensis trivs framför allt i tropiska och subtropiska klimat med våta och varma somrar. För att få friska, högavkastande plantor krävs odlingsåtgärder som gödsling, beskärning, skuggning, växtskydd, ogräsbekämpning och optimalt planteringsavstånd. Skörden sker för hand eller maskinellt, med för- och nackdelar.Tea has been around for thousands of years and is one of the most popular beverages today. The aim of this literature study is to give the reader an insight into the history and distribution of tea cultivation, and the most important geographic and climatic factors for tea cultivation as well as common field management and harvesting methods. The tea plant Camellia sinensis is originating from the south of China and its genetic history was unknown for a long time. Camellia sinensis is cultivated in many parts of the world today, mostly in Asia and Africa. Important geographic factors affecting the cultivation are altitude, slope, soil types and pH. Also, optimum weather conditions have a large impact and comprises factors like temperature, light, precipitation, and wind. Camellia sinensis thrives in a tropical or subtropical climate with wet and hot summers. To get healthy, highyielding plants there is a need for fertilization, pruning, shading, pest management and optimal plant density. When it comes to harvest, this can be done manually or by using machines

Hinder och möjligheter för följsamhet till egenvård hos patienter med hjärtsvikt

Hjärtsvikt är en vanlig sjukdom som kräver livslång behandling och ställer krav på att patienterna ändrar sin livsstil. Följsamheten till en ändrad livsstil utgör ett problem eftersom sjukdomen begränsar patienterna att utföra dagliga aktiviteter. Syftet med studien var att belysa hinder och möjligheter för egenvård hos patienter med hjärtsvikt. Studien utfördes som en litteraturöversikt inkluderande åtta artiklar. Resultatet visade att patienter med hjärtsvikt upplever att det största hindret för fysisk träning är osäkerhet på grund av bristande information från vårdpersonal men att träning i grupp ökar självsäkerheten. Vidare framkom att patienterna tar sina mediciner för att minska symtomen men bristande information om medicineringen minskar följsamheten. Det vanligaste hindret till att följa råden om kost och vätskerestriktioner är smaklös mat och törst. Patientutbildning och motivation från vårdpersonal är därför viktigt för patienterna att själva kunna hantera sin sjukdom

Динамика концентрации общего белка и коллоидно-онкотического давления плазмы крови при оперативном родоразрешении беременных с гестозом в условиях различных видов анестезии

БЕЛКИ КРОВИПЛАЗМАДАВЛЕНИЕРОДОВСПОМОЖЕНИЕПРЕЭКЛАМПСИЯКЕСАРЕВО СЕЧЕНИЕАНЕСТЕЗИЯ В АКУШЕРСТВ

Cries and whispers: exhuming and narrating defeat in Spain today

In this paper, I will reflect on the impact in contemporary Spain of the production, circulation and consumption of narratives and images of Civil War terror and suffering, specifically those resulting from the opening of mass graves from the Francoist repression. This sharing of narratives has to be seen in the context of a broader and highly controversial process of reconsideration of the Civil War as a traumatic past. At a time when Spanish society is engaged in important debates regarding the singularity or plurality of our identity and the structure of our territorial organization, these exhumations are bringing to light rather disturbing information regarding our past, our present, and probably our future as well. The excavation of these “crime scenes” in various parts of the country is provoking heated discussions and performances in family contexts, politics, historiography, the media, the arts, and the public sphere in general. For example, the public display of skeletons, skulls and bone fragments bearing the marks of violence – from “perimortem” tortures to bullet wounds and coups de grâce – is bringing back tragic stories that, for many relatives but also for civil society at large, were for decades mostly silenced, told in whispers, imperfectly transmitted in limited family circles, or simply ignored. The screen of silence, fear and self-censorship has been particularly strong in local, rural contexts. Exhumation and narration are inextricably entwined. Exhumations elicit storytelling; conversely, their meaning and social impact depend on the available repertoire of competing “memory plots".Peer reviewe

Parameter space mapping of InAs nanowire crystal structure

Crystal structure and defects have been shown to have a strong impact on III-Vnanowire properties. Recently, it was demonstrated that the issue of random stacking and polytypism in semiconductornanowires can often be controlled using accessible growth parameters (such as temperature, diameter, and V/III ratio). In addition, it has been shown that crystal phase can be tuned selectively between cubic zinc blende and hexagonal wurtzite within individual nanowires of III-V materials such as InAs. In order for such results to be generally applied to different growth setups, it is necessary to fully explore and understand the trends governing crystal phase dependencies on all accessible growth parameters, including how they relate to each other. In this study, the authors have systematically investigated the influence of temperature, diameter, V/III ratio, and total mass flow on the crystal structure of InAsnanowiresgrown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy over a broad parameter range. The authors observed that each of these accessible parameters can affect the resulting crystal structure, and that the trends for each parameter are affected by the magnitude of the others. The authors also noted that most of the parameter dependencies are nonlinear and, in fact, exhibit threshold values at which structure changes discontinuously. By optimizing each of the growth parameters, it is shown that pure ZB or pure WZ phase can be achieved for several different sets of growth conditions. The roles of nucleation kinetics, thermodynamics, and precursor chemistry are also discussed to compare the results to current nanowiregrowth models. The results in this work should facilitate comparison of data and transfer of knowledge between different growth systems and techniques, which, in turn, should lead to greater understanding of polytypism in nanowires and greater control and freedom in nanowire crystal phase engineering.This work was supported by the Nanometer Structure Consortium at Lund University nmC@LU, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research SSF, the Swedish Research Council VR, and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation

Altered tryptophan and alanine transport in fibroblasts from boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): an in vitro study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The catecholaminergic and serotonergic neurotransmitter systems are implicated in the pathophysiology of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The amino acid tyrosine is the precursor for synthesis of the catecholamines dopamine and norepinephrine, while tryptophan is the precursor of serotonin. A disturbed transport of tyrosine, as well as other amino acids, has been found in a number of other psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and autism, when using the fibroblast cell model. Hence, the aim of this study was to explore whether children with ADHD may have disturbed amino acid transport.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Fibroblast cells were cultured from skin biopsies obtained from 14 boys diagnosed with ADHD and from 13 matching boys without a diagnosis of a developmental disorder. Transport of the amino acids tyrosine, tryptophan and alanine across the cell membrane was measured by the cluster tray method. The kinetic parameters, maximal transport capacity (<it>V_max</it>) and affinity constant (<it>K_m</it>) were determined. Any difference between the two groups was analyzed by Student's unpaired <it>t</it>-test or the Mann Whitney U test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The ADHD group had significantly decreased <it>V_max</it>(p = 0.039) and <it>K_m</it>(increased affinity) (p = 0.010) of tryptophan transport in comparison to controls. They also had a significantly higher <it>V_max</it>of alanine transport (p = 0.031), but the <it>Km </it>of alanine transport did not differ significantly. There were no significant differences in any of the kinetic parameters regarding tyrosine transport in fibroblasts for the ADHD group.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Tryptophan uses the same transport systems in both fibroblasts and at the blood brain barrier (BBB). Hence, a decreased transport capacity of tryptophan implies that less tryptophan is being transported across the BBB in the ADHD group. This could lead to deficient serotonin access in the brain that might cause disturbances in both the serotonergic and the catecholaminergic neurotransmitter systems, since these systems are highly interconnected. The physiological importance of an elevated transport capacity of alanine to the brain is not known to date.</p

Zwischen Regulierung und Repression: Ein Beitrag zur Einordnung gesetzlicher Maßnahmen in Bezug auf die Auslandsfinanzierung von zivilgesellschaftlichen Organisationen

Gesetzliche Maßnahmen im Bereich der Auslandsfinanzierung von zivilgesellschaftlichen Organisationen werden inzwischen als zentraler Bestandteil von schrumpfenden zivilgesellschaftlichen Räumen angesehen. Allerdings existiert in der Literatur bisher kein Konsens über die Angemessenheit eines expliziten staatlichen Eingriffs in diesem Bereich. Der Artikel entwickelt deswegen einen konzeptionellen Rahmen, um den einschränkenden Charakter von staatlichen Eingriffen empirisch präziser als bisher bestimmen zu können. Wir plausibilisieren unser konzeptionelles Argument anhand von sechs kurzen Fallstudien zu Deutschland, Österreich, der Türkei, Ungarn, Uruguay und Venezuela. Damit tragen wir in dreifacher Art und Weise zur Debatte über schrumpfende zivilgesellschaftliche Räume bei. Wir zeigen erstens, dass gesetzliche Maßnahmen in Bezug auf die ausländische Finanzierung von Zivilgesellschaft nicht zwangsläufig als Teil eines weltweiten repressiven Trends anzusehen sind. Zweitens schlagen wir eine neue analytische Einordnung vor, die über das bisher dominante binäre Verständnis hinausgeht, welches gerade im Global Süden jeglicher Anpassung gesetzlicher Maßnahmen in diesem Bereich repressive Tendenzen unterstellt. Drittens versuchen wir eine Sicht der internationalen Menschenrechte zur Vereinigungsfreiheit mit einer auf nationalen verfassungsrechtlichen Normen fokussierten Perspektive in Verbindung zu bringen, um damit empirisch-analytisch präziser auf die in vielen Ländern existierenden rechtsnormativen Unterschiede zwischen diesen beiden Ebenen aufmerksam zu machen