Living Wages and Living Incomes in Fair Supply Chains? A Critical Review

The living wages and living incomes approach was designed to contribute to poverty reduction, environmental sustainability, and social justice. It is prominently positioned in the Fair Trade movement, which treats living wages and living incomes as a core political demand. While the concept of living wages and living incomes is not new, the challenges arising from a globalized, crisis-ridden world are increasingly complex and poorly understood. This special issue presents four international, wide-ranging empirical papers that, first and foremost, ask whether living wages and living incomes provide socially just and sustainable livelihoods for workers and smallholder farmers in countries that produce key primary commodities, mainly in the Global South. This editorial first reviews the origins and evolution of the living wages and living incomes concept and different methods of calculation. It then previews the empirical contributions in this special issue and discusses the practical implementation challenges of living wages and living income ideals.  

High Dual Expression of the Biomarkers CD44v6/α2β1 and CD44v6/PD-L1 Indicate Early Recurrence after Colorectal Hepatic Metastasectomy

Considering the biology of CRC, distant metastases might support the identification of high-risk patients for early recurrence and targeted therapy. Expression of a panel of druggable, metastasis-related biomarkers was immunohistochemically analyzed in 53 liver (LM) and 15 lung metastases (LuM) and correlated with survival. Differential expression between LM and LuM was observed for the growth factor receptors IGF1R (LuM 92.3% vs. LM 75.8%, p = 0.013), EGFR (LuM 68% vs. LM 41.5%, p = 0.004), the cell adhesion molecules CD44v6 (LuM 55.7% vs. LM 34.9%, p = 0.019) and α2β1 (LuM 88.3% vs. LM 58.5%, p = 0.001) and the check point molecule PD-L1 (LuM 6.1% vs. LM 3.3%, p = 0.005). Contrary, expression of HGFR, Hsp90, Muc1, Her2/neu, ERα and PR was comparable in LuM and LM. In the LM cohort (n = 52), a high CD44v6 expression was identified as an independent factor of poor prognosis (PFS: HR 2.37, 95% CI 1.18–4.78, p = 0.016). High co-expression of CD44v6/α2β1 (HR 4.14, 95% CI 1.65–10.38, p = 0.002) and CD44v6/PD-L1 (HR 2.88, 95% CI 1.21–6.85, p = 0.017) indicated early recurrence after hepatectomy, in a substantial number of patients (CD44v6/α2β1: 11 (21.15%) patients; CD44v6/PD-L1: 12 (23.1%) patients). Dual expression of druggable protein biomarkers may refine prognostic prediction and stratify high-risk patients for new therapeutic concepts, depending on the metastatic location

Germany’s first Action plan on the pathways of invasive alien species to prevent their unintentional introduction and spread

The increase in global trade and traffic networks contributes to the introduction and spread of invasive alien species, posing a threat to biodiversity. EU Regulation 1143/2014 addresses the prevention and management of invasive alien species and requires an action plan on the priority pathways of unintentional introduction and spread of invasive alien species by each member state. To this end, the first German action plan was developed for the German government in cooperation with relevant Ministries and authorities, scientists, administrative experts, stakeholder working groups and political as well as public deliberation processes. As a result, 14 priority pathways of unintentional introduction, escape or release and spread were identified, resulting in 24 targeted measures. Nineteen sectors will be involved in the implementation of these measures. Here we describe the development process and outcome of Germany’s first action plan. By this, we aim making the process public and transparent, which can facilitate a revision of the action plan required at least every six years, and trigger broader European as well as national cooperation in the future

Consulting project: Descubriendo Juntxs

El sector de las capacitaciones es cada vez más valorado por las empresas y busca mejorar el desenvolvimiento de las personas, tanto en lo laboral como lo social o familiar. Sin embargo, la desigualdad es una barrera para ciertas personas al momento de poder recibir este servicio. En ese sentido, es que nace Descubriendo Juntxs, empresa fundada el año 2023 con un importante enfoque social: llevar las capacitaciones a gente en los sectores de más difícil acceso peruano, como puede ser el sector rural. Esta realidad es contrastada por la fundadora de la empresa, Saddit Suice Vilchez, la cual es originaria de la ciudad de Huancayo y ha presenciado la desigualdad que vive mucha gente al momento de acceder a capacitaciones o educación de calidad. Por ende, el foco y motivo de la empresa es buscar mejorar la vida de la gente que no tiene fácil acceso a este servicio, a través de capacitaciones y de manera gratuita. Esta labor social viene siendo financiada por la misma empresa a través de los servicios que brinda a sus clientes. No obstante, el problema identificado es que no existen clientes nuevos para la empresa, lo cual ha generado un bajo flujo de caja y una ausencia de movimiento laboral en Descubriendo Juntxs. En consecuencia, el proceso de consultoría se centró en proponer soluciones a corto y mediano plazo, basadas en un análisis cualitativo y cuantitativo, donde se recopiló información de los clientes anteriores, la cual sirvió para estudiarse y contrastarla con nuevas oportunidades encontradas por el equipo. Después de evaluar las alternativas de solución, se propuso una solución final, la cual contempla una estrategia de negocios que servirá para que Descubriendo Juntxs pueda generar nuevos ingresos y luego expanda su equipo a más personas, poniendo en marcha un plan de marketing, necesario para captar más clientes.The training sector is currently witnessing a heightened appreciation among companies, with a strong emphasis on enhancing individuals' performance across professional, social, and familial domains. Nevertheless, the pervasive issue of inequality acts as a significant impediment for certain individuals in accessing these services. It is in this context that Descubriendo Juntxs was established in 2023, underpinned by a profound social mission: to extend training opportunities to individuals residing in the most underserved regions of Peru, particularly in rural areas. The founder of the company, Saddit Vilchez, hailing from the city of Huancayo, brings a personal understanding of the inequalities many people face in their pursuit of quality training and education. Hence, the company's core purpose and driving force revolve around enhancing the lives of individuals who encounter formidable obstacles in accessing such services, all the while delivering this training free of charge. To sustain this noble social endeavor, the company leverages the revenues generated from the services it provides to its clients. However, a critical challenge has emerged in the form of stagnant client acquisition, resulting in reduced cash flow and a notable absence of labor movement within Descubriendo Juntxs. Consequently, the consulting process has been meticulously crafted to propose short and medium-term solutions. Rooted in both qualitative and quantitative analyses, this approach involved the aggregation of insights from prior clients, which were then meticulously scrutinized and aligned with fresh opportunities identified by the consulting team. Following a thorough evaluation of potential alternatives, a final solution has been outlined. This solution entails the formulation of a business strategy designed to enable Descubriendo Juntxs to secure additional income streams and subsequently expand its team, ushering in an era of growth through the implementation of an essential marketing plan aimed at attracting a broader clientele base

Influence of RNA structural stability on the RNA chaperone activity of the Escherichia coli protein StpA

Proteins with RNA chaperone activity are able to promote folding of RNA molecules by loosening their structure. This RNA unfolding activity is beneficial when resolving misfolded RNA conformations, but could be detrimental to RNAs with low thermodynamic stability. In order to test this idea, we constructed various RNAs with different structural stabilities derived from the thymidylate synthase (td) group I intron and measured the effect of StpA, an Escherichia coli protein with RNA chaperone activity, on their splicing activity in vivo and in vitro. While StpA promotes splicing of the wild-type td intron and of mutants with wild-type-like stability, splicing of mutants with a lower structural stability is reduced in the presence of StpA. In contrast, splicing of an intron mutant, which is not destabilized but which displays a reduced population of correctly folded RNAs, is promoted by StpA. The sensitivity of an RNA towards StpA correlates with its structural stability. By lowering the temperature to 25°C, a temperature at which the structure of these mutants becomes more stable, StpA is again able to stimulate splicing. These observations clearly suggest that the structural stability of an RNA determines whether the RNA chaperone activity of StpA is beneficial to folding

Die Kombination von Kräuterextrakten mit Propionsäure zur Therapie subklinischer Ketosen im biologischen Landbau eine Feldstudie

On 25 Swiss and German organic dairy farms all fresh cows (a total of 283 cows between 5 and 50 days in milk) were tested weekly for blood- -hydroxybutyrate (BBHB), 121 exceeded the threshold of 1.0 mmol/l BBHB. A total of 84 cows were randomly assigned to three treatments which were given daily, diluted in 700ml fluid divided to two oral administrations for 4 days: placebo (PL), 240g sodium propionate per day (SP) and 240g sodium propionate combined with an extract of seven herbs (27g drug equivalent). Milk acetone (MAC) and BBHB were observed during the administration period and thereafter, in total for two weeks. A reduction of ketone bodies was measured in all three treatment groups. No significant differences between SP and PL arose regarding the observed parameters. During the first week of observation SP-H showed the lowest MAC and mean values differed significantly from those in group SP (p=0.035) and PL (p<0.001). After two weeks SP-H showed the largest reduction in BBHB which was by trend different from SP but without differences from PL. Compared to PL or SP, SP-H seemed to have slight advantages in a four days therapy of subclinical ketotic fresh cows