The implementation of sustainable branding in the context of industrial companies

Abstract. This master’s thesis focuses on the implementation of sustainable branding in the industrial sector. Sustainable branding has received attention increasingly in the prior academic research, especially in the consumer sector. However, studies regarding the topic from the industrial companies’ perspective is scant, even though industrial companies are intensive users of natural resources, and they have observable impacts on the environment. Therefore, studying how industrial companies implement sustainable branding is important, and for that research gap, this thesis aims to contribute to. Recognizing general guidelines to conduct sustainable branding will be beneficial not only to the industrial companies themselves, but also to societies and the environment. Regarding the industrial companies and their branding, industrial branding exists as a concept, but it has not a connection to sustainability. Furthermore, from the companies’ buyer-supplier relationship, this study emphasizes the role of the supplier since the prior literature of industrial branding focuses mainly on the buyers’ perspective. This selection of perspective appears also in the empirical study of this research, in which three publicly listed industrial companies’ representatives are interviewed. The semi-structured theme interviews include experts from both fields — sustainability and branding. Hence this study is a qualitative research, utilizing abductive research method. The findings of the empirical study are being reflected to the theoretical framework, which is created at first by studying the existing literature regarding industrial companies’ sustainability and branding, and sustainable branding in general. The findings of this study suggest that industrial companies implement sustainable branding by combining their sustainability practices and branding activities. These are connected because the messages need to be aligned with the actions. Further, the practices need to be genuinely sustainable for the branding to also be sustainable. Another key finding is that sustainable branding is not concerned to be necessarily different from other types of branding, it just utilizes sustainability as a core value in the branding. However, sustainable branding is seen to be a source of competitive advantage, and for its achievement, it requires a common effort from the whole value chain. From the managerial perspective, the key findings include that the initiative of sustainability starts at the top, internal branding in terms of how the employees perceive sustainability is crucial for the success of the sustainability efforts, and customers attitudes towards sustainability have a significant role in how sustainable branding will succeed. Overall, this thesis presents guidelines on how sustainable branding is implemented in the context of industrial companies and offers tools to industrial companies if their aspiration is to differentiate in the competitive industrial sector with sustainable branding

Kinetics of CO<inf>2</inf>-fluid-rock reactions in a basalt aquifer, Soda Springs, Idaho

The dissolution of silicate minerals by CO2–rich fluids and the subsequent precipitation of CO2 as carbonate minerals represent a means of permanently storing anthropogenic CO2 waste products in a solid and secure form. Modelling the progression of these reactions is hindered by our poor understanding of the rates of mineral dissolution-precipitation reactions and mineral surface properties in natural systems. This study evaluates the chemical evolution of groundwater flowing through a basalt aquifer, which forms part of the leaking CO2-charged system of the Blackfoot Volcanic Field in south-eastern Idaho, USA. Reaction progress is modelled using changes in groundwater chemistry by inverse mass balance techniques. The CO2-promoted fluid-mineral reactions include the dissolution of primary plagioclase, orthoclase, pyroxene and gypsum which is balanced by the precipitation of secondary albite, calcite, zeolite, kaolinite and silica. Mineral mole transfers and groundwater flow rates estimated from hydraulic head data are used to determine the kinetics of plagioclase and orthoclase feldspar dissolution. Plagioclase surface area measurements were determined using the evolution of the U-series isotope ratios in the groundwater and are compared to published surface area measurements. Calculated rates of dissolution for plagioclase range from 2.4 x 10-12 to 4.6 x 10-16 mol/m2/s and orthoclase from 2.0 x 10-13 to 6.8 x 10-16 mol/m2/s respectively. These feldspar reaction rates, correlate with the degree of mineral-fluid disequilibrium and are similar to the dissolution rates for these mineral measured in other natural CO2-charged groundwater systems.Carbon research at Cambridge is supported by Natural Environment Research Council grant NE/F004699/1, part of the UK CRIUS (Carbon Research Into Underground Storage) consortium and DECC through the ‘£20 million’ competition. Niko Kampman acknowledges financial support from Shell Global Solutions International.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2015.06.01

Toward the optimal strategy for sustained weight loss in overweight cancer survivors: a systematic review of the literature

Purpose: To gain more insight into the optimal strategy to achieve weight loss and weight loss maintenance in overweight and obese cancer survivors after completion of initial treatment, this systematic review aimed to provide an overview of the literature on intervention effects on weight, to describe intervention components used in effective interventions, to identify and synthesize behaviour change techniques (BCTs) and to assess the frequency with which these BCTs were used in effective interventions. / Methods: Six databases were searched for original research articles describing weight changes in adult overweight cancer survivors after participation in a lifestyle intervention initiated after completion of initial treatment. Two researchers independently screened the retrieved papers and extracted BCTs using the BCT Taxonomy version 1. / Results: Thirty-two papers describing 27 interventions were included. Interventions that were evaluated with a robust study design (n = 8) generally showed <5% weight loss and did not evaluate effects at ≥12 months after intervention completion. Effective interventions promoted both diet and physical activity and used the BCTs ‘goal setting (behaviour)’, ‘action planning’, ‘social support (unspecified)’ and ‘instruction on how to perform the behaviour’. / Conclusions: The results of this first review on intervention components of effective interventions could be used to inform intervention development and showed a need for future publications to report long-term effects, a detailed intervention description and an extensive process evaluation. / Implications for cancer survivors: This study contributed to increasing knowledge on the optimal strategy to achieve weight loss, which is recommended for overweight cancer survivors to improve health outcomes

Archaeological Geophysical Prospection in Peatland Environments: case studies and suggestions for future practice

Peatland environments, in contrast to ‘dry-land’ sites, preserve organic material, including anthropogenic objects, because they are anaerobic, and are therefore of great importance to archaeology. Peat also preserves macro- and micro- paleoenvironmental evidence and is the primary resource for understanding past climates and ecology. Archaeological sites often lie within or at the base of wet, deep, homogenous peat rendering them invisible to surface observers. As a result, they most often c..

Dietary fibre, whole grains, and risk of colorectal cancer: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies

Objective To investigate the association between intake of dietary fibre and whole grains and risk of colorectal cancer

Determinants of frequent and infrequent STI testing and STI diagnosis related to test frequency among men who have sex with men in the eastern part of the Netherlands: a 6-year retrospective study.

Men who have sex with men (MSM) remain vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and are advised to be tested at least twice a year. The aim of this study was to assess the determinants of test frequency and their associations with an STI diagnosis

Psychological distress and lower health-related quality of life are associated with need for dietary support among colorectal cancer survivors with overweight or obesity

Objective: Two-third of colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors are overweight or obese. Psychological distress and low health-related quality of life (HRQoL) may be barriers to improving diet. We aimed to assess associations between psychological distress and HRQoL and the need for dietary support in CRC survivors with overweight or obesity. Methods: All alive individuals diagnosed with CRC between 2000 and 2009, as registered by the Dutch population-based Eindhoven Cancer Registry, were eligible for participation and received a questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess associations between HRQoL (EORTC QLQ-C30), symptoms of anxiety and depression (HADS), and self-reported need for dietary support (single-item). Results: A total of 1458 completed the questionnaire (response rate 82%), and 756 (43%) had a BMI of 25.0 or higher and complete data on “need for dietary support” and were included for analyses. BMI ranged between 25.0 and 60.6 (mean, 28.9; SD, 3.6). The majority (71.7%) was overweight (BMI ≥ 25), and 28.3% obese (BMI ≥ 30). Twenty-one percent reported a need for dietary support which was associated with more psychological distress and lower HRQoL. Those who experienced symptoms of anxiety or depression were more likely to report a need for dietary support (27.6% and 28.7%) than those who did not experience symptoms of anxiety (12.3%; OR 2.02; 95% CI 1.22–3.35) or depression (13.5%; OR 1.96; 95% CI 1.19–3.22). Conclusions: Results suggest that psychological distress and lower HRQoL should be taken into account while promoting a healthy diet in overweight or obese CRC survivors since these factors may hinder adherence to a healthy diet.</p

No Effect of Folic Acid Supplementation on Global DNA Methylation in Men and Women with Moderately Elevated Homocysteine

A global loss of cytosine methylation in DNA has been implicated in a wide range of diseases. There is growing evidence that modifications in DNA methylation can be brought about by altering the intake of methyl donors such as folate. We examined whether long-term daily supplementation with 0.8 mg of folic acid would increase global DNA methylation compared with placebo in individuals with elevated plasma homocysteine. We also investigated if these effects were modified by MTHFR C677T genotype. Two hundred sixteen participants out of 818 subjects who had participated in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial were selected, pre-stratified on MTHFR C677T genotype and matched on age and smoking status. They were allocated to receive either folic acid (0.8 mg/d; n = 105) or placebo treatment (n = 111) for three years. Peripheral blood leukocyte DNA methylation and serum and erythrocyte folate were assessed. Global DNA methylation was measured using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and expressed as a percentage of 5-methylcytosines versus the total number of cytosine. There was no difference in global DNA methylation between those randomized to folic acid and those in the placebo group (difference = 0.008, 95%CI = −0.05,0.07, P = 0.79). There was also no difference between treatment groups when we stratified for MTHFR C677T genotype (CC, n = 76; CT, n = 70; TT, n = 70), baseline erythrocyte folate status or baseline DNA methylation levels. In moderately hyperhomocysteinemic men and women, long-term folic acid supplementation does not increase global DNA methylation in peripheral blood leukocytes

Is a colorectal neoplasm diagnosis a trigger to change dietary and other lifestyle habits for persons with Lynch syndrome? A prospective cohort study

A cancer diagnosis is suggested to be associated with changes in dietary and lifestyle habits. Whether this applies to persons with familial cancer, such as Lynch syndrome (LS) is unknown. We investigated whether a colorectal neoplasm (CRN) diagnosis in persons with LS is associated with changes in dietary and lifestyle habits over time. We used data of confirmed LS mutation carriers from the GEOLynch study, a prospective cohort study. Information on dietary intake and lifestyle habits was collected with a validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire and a general questionnaire administered at baseline (2006–2008) and follow-up (2012–2017). Participants’ medical records were used to identify CRN diagnoses. Changes in dietary and lifestyle habits in the CRN and the no-CRN group were compared using multivariable linear regression models for continuous variables and cross-tables with percentage change at follow-up compared with baseline for categorical variables. Of the 324 included participants, 146 developed a CRN (CRN group) between baseline and follow-up, while 178 did not (no-CRN group). Smoking cessation was more often reported in the CRN than in the no-CRN group (41.4% vs. 35.0%). There were no differences in changes of energy intake, alcohol, red meat, processed meat, dairy, fruit, vegetables and dietary fiber consumption, BMI, physical activity and NSAID use. Apart from a potentially higher likelihood of smoking cessation, we found little evidence that a CRN diagnosis is associated with changes in lifestyle habits in persons with LS.</p