Eco-innovation practices’ adoption in the automotive industry

Eco-innovation is a construct that is gaining increasing interest from academics and researchers since it is commonly considered in the literature as one of the strategies that allow manufacturing companies not only to significantly reduce the negative impacts on the environment but also the generation of pollutants. However, little is known about the adoption of eco-innovation practices in manufacturing companies, particularly in the automotive industry. Therefore, this research has as main objective to fill this gap in the literature and explore the interdependence between eco-innovation of products, processes and management. The study is conducted through a research framework consisting of 3 measurement scales, 14 items and 3 hypotheses and an extensive review of the literature. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 460 companies in the automotive and auto parts industry in Mexico. Data were analyzed through Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Descriptive Statistics and Structural Equation Modelling. The results obtained show that product eco-innovation, process eco-innovation and management eco-innovation are good indicators for the adoption of eco-innovation practices for companies in the automotive and auto parts industry. The paper addresses a research gap in the academic literature in the eco-innovation field by providing evidence on the interdependence between eco-innovation of products, processes and management and the implementation of their practices in the automotive industry.N/

Restructuring the Philippine Statistical System in Response to New Challenges

For a national statistical system to continue to be useful and relevant to its clients and the general public, it has to occasionally undergo an exhaustive evaluation of its performance according to certain parameters. The Philippine statistical system had recently gone through such process. This Policy Notes provides a summary of the findings and recommendations of the evaluation.statistical system, Philippine Statistical System (PSS)

Modeling and analysing the barriers to the acceptance of energy-efficient appliances using an ISM-DEMATEL approach

Electricity savings from energy-efficient appliances (EEAs) may have a significant impact on reducing global warming. There are several barriers confronted by EEAs, which have lowered their acceptance rate. The current study identifies and highlights key barriers to strengthening domestic sector adoption of EEAs in developing countries. In the current study, thirteen barriers were discovered by an indepth literature review and the judgement of experts as well. Further, integrated “Interpretive Structural Modeling” (ISM) and “Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory” (DEMATEL) approaches are utilized to evaluate barriers. The ISM technique is implemented to categorize barriers into distinct hierarchy levels, and “Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification” (MICMAC) analysis to divide barriers among four clusters “independent, linkage, dependent, and autonomous”. Moreover, the DEMATEL methodology is applied to classify the barriers among cause and effect clusters. The integrated ISM and DEMATEL approach suggests that the topmost influencing barriers to the acceptance of EEAs are the lack of Government policies and initiatives, lack of attractive loan financing, and subsidized energy prices. This study would help researchers, regulators, producers, policymakers, and consumers to comprehend the need for additional developments and understand that the adoption of EEAs is a current need. Overall, the results of this study expedite stakeholders with the key barriers that may assist to enhance the acceptance of EEAs within the domestic sector. An extensive literature survey showed a dearth of studies for the identification, modeling, and analysis of barriers collectively. Therefore, the current work utilized the ISM and DEMATEL approaches to fill the gap and to provide more comprehensive knowledge on barriers related to the acceptance of EEA

Impact of Alternative Thermal and Non-Thermal Processing on the Enzymatic Activity of Papaya and Strawberry Nectars and Their Blends

Pectin methylesterase (PME) in papaya nectar results in undesirable gel formation and peroxidase (POD) in strawberry nectar leads to nutrient loss, browning, and off-flavor production. Because of this, the effect of alternative processing techniques including ultra high temperature (UHT, 20-135°C, 1-3 s), high pressure processing (HPP, 20 or 60°C, 200-600 MPa) and irradiation (0-10 kGy) on PME and POD activity in papaya and strawberry nectar and their respective blends were compared to traditional thermal processing (80-130°C, 0-10 min). Traditional thermal (110°C, 5 min, 71.5% reduction) and UHT (110°C, 1-3 s, 98.0% reduction) processing were able to sufficiently reduce PME activity and prevent gel formation in papaya nectar. PME reduction was enhanced by synergistic reductions in nectar blends after UHT at 80°C. HPP was unable to prevent gel formation in papaya nectar, with enhanced activity at 400 MPa. Exposure of a blend 50P:50S to 10 kGy irradiation prevented gel formation. UHT enhanced POD activity at 110°C and synergistic reductions resulted for POD activity in nectar blends after irradiation. These findings highlight the benefits of alternative processing in reducing enzyme activity in fruit nectars and nectar blends

Does Circular Economy Affect Financial Performance? The Mediating Role of Sustainable Sup-ply Chain Management in the Automotive Industry

The implementation of stricter sustainable policies and the tightening of environmental laws are forcing manufacturing companies, particularly those that make up the automotive industry, to make changes and improvements involving Circular Economy (CE) practices. However, CE practices do not always lead to an improvement in firm performance. This study analyzes the effects of the implementation of CE practices on the financial performance (FIP) of manufacturing companies in the automotive industry of Mexico, considering the mediating effect exerted by sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). The proposed model is validated through PLS-SEM using a sample of 460 companies. The results show that the FIP is strengthened through the implementation of the CE and that this effect is mediated by the commitment of the company to promote a better SSCM. This study contributes to the CE and SSCM theories by providing evidence about the positive effect that the implementation of these activities has on the performance of the automotive industry and how a SSCM equally exerts a direct and indirect effect on this. In the same way, managers can use this study and its results to make their operations more efficient and to demonstrate the effects of sustainability on the financial performance of the company

Divergent modulation of nociception by glutamatergic and GABAergic neuronal subpopulations in the periaqueductal gray

The ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG) constitutes a major descending pain modulatory system and is a crucial site for opioid-induced analgesia. A number of previous studies have demonstrated that glutamate and GABA play critical opposing roles in nociceptive processing in the vlPAG. It has been suggested that glutamatergic neurotransmission exerts antinociceptive effects, whereas GABAergic neurotransmission exert pronociceptive effects on pain transmission, through descending pathways. The inability to exclusively manipulate subpopulations of neurons in the PAG has prevented direct testing of this hypothesis. Here, we demonstrate the different contributions of genetically defined glutamatergic and GABAergic vlPAG neurons in nociceptive processing by employing cell type-specific chemogenetic approaches in mice. Global chemogenetic manipulation of vlPAG neuronal activity suggests that vlPAG neural circuits exert tonic suppression of nociception, consistent with previous pharmacological and electrophysiological studies. However, selective modulation of GABAergic or glutamatergic neurons demonstrates an inverse regulation of nociceptive behaviors by these cell populations. Selective chemogenetic activation of glutamatergic neurons, or inhibition of GABAergic neurons, in vlPAG suppresses nociception. In contrast, inhibition of glutamatergic neurons, or activation of GABAergic neurons, in vlPAG facilitates nociception. Our findings provide direct experimental support for a model in which excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the PAG bidirectionally modulate nociception

A data integrity verification service for cloud storage based on building blocks

Cloud storage is a popular solution for organizations and users to store data in ubiquitous and cost-effective manner. However, violations of confidentiality and integrity are still issues associated to this technology. In this context, there is a need for tools that enable organizations/users to verify the integrity of their information stored in cloud services. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of an efficient service based on provable data possession cryptographic model, which enables organizations to verify, on-demand, the data integrity without retrieving files from the cloud. The storage and cryptographic components have been developed in the form of building blocks, which are deployed on the user-side using the Manager/Worker pattern that favors exploiting parallelism when executing data possession challenges. An experimental evaluation in a private cloud revealed the efficacy of launching integrity verification challenges to cloud storage services and the feasibility of applying containerized task parallel scheme that significantly improves the performance of the data possession proof service in real-world scenarios in comparison with the implementation of the original possession data proof scheme.This work has been partially funded by GRANT Fondo Sectorial Mexican Space Agency-CONACYT Num. 262891 and by EU under the COST programme Action IC1305, Network for Sustainable Ultrascale Computing (NESUS)

Atomic structures of fibrillar segments of hIAPP suggest tightly mated β-sheets are important for cytotoxicity.

hIAPP fibrils are associated with Type-II Diabetes, but the link of hIAPP structure to islet cell death remains elusive. Here we observe that hIAPP fibrils are cytotoxic to cultured pancreatic β-cells, leading us to determine the structure and cytotoxicity of protein segments composing the amyloid spine of hIAPP. Using the cryoEM method MicroED, we discover that one segment, 19-29 S20G, forms pairs of β-sheets mated by a dry interface that share structural features with and are similarly cytotoxic to full-length hIAPP fibrils. In contrast, a second segment, 15-25 WT, forms non-toxic labile β-sheets. These segments possess different structures and cytotoxic effects, however, both can seed full-length hIAPP, and cause hIAPP to take on the cytotoxic and structural features of that segment. These results suggest that protein segment structures represent polymorphs of their parent protein and that segment 19-29 S20G may serve as a model for the toxic spine of hIAPP