The Future of Fairtrade

Fair Trade ist ein Geschäftsmodell, dessen Ziel es ist, den Lebensstandard der Rohstoffproduzenten durch die Gewährleistung der fairen Verteilung des Profits innerhalb der Produktionskette zu verbessern. Die Verkäufe von Fair Trade Produkten stieg Jahr für Jahr in vielen Verbrauchermärkten überall in der Welt an. Daher wird Fair Trade als ein Mittel zur Armutsbekämpfung gepriesen. Fair Trade Produkte sind traditionell teurer als nicht Fair Trade Alternativen, was dazu führt, dass die Zukunft von Fair Trade wegen der Rezensionsbedingten erhöhten Preissensibilität in Frage gestellt wurde. Vor dem Hintergrund der enormen Mengen an Nahrungsmittelverkäufen in Supermärkten, verfügen die Einkäufer der Supermärkte über große Macht um zu gewährleisten, dass Fair Trade Nahrungsmittel den Endkonsumenten erreichen. Als Torwächter zum Massenkonsum-Markt, können ihre Entscheidungen letztendlich die Zukunft von Fair Trade bestimmen. Diese Arbeit versucht die Fähigkeiten von Fair Trade zur Weiterführung seines Erfolgs zu beurteilen. Tiefeninterviews mit Supermarkt Einkäufern und Fair Tade Agenturen zeigten, das Fair Trade Produkte wettbewerbsfähige Preise erlangen müssen, und zusätzliche Vorteile wie rationalisierte und gesicherte Nachschubketten übernehmen muss, um ihren Erfolg in der Zukunft zu sichern.Fair trade as a business model aims to improve the living standards of raw-material producers by ensuring a fair distribution of profits throughout a production chain. The sales of Fairtrade products have growing year on year in many consumer markets across the world. Thus, Fairtrade has been hailed as a tool with which poverty can be alleviated. Fairtrade products traditionally command a price premium versus non-Fairtrade alternatives, resulting in the future of Fairtrade being questioned due to increased price sensitivity brought about by the economic recession. Given the overwhelming amount of food purchases that are made in supermarkets, supermarket buyers hold a large balance of power in ensuring that Fairtrade food products reach the end consumer. As gatekeepers to the mass consumer market, their decisions in part can ultimately determine the future of Fairtrade. This thesis aims to assess the abilities of Fairtrade to continue to succeed in the future. Through in-depth interviews with supermarket buyers and Fairtrade agencies, findings show that Fairtrade products need to achieve price competitiveness, and must incur additional benefits such as streamlined and safeguarded supply chains to ensure continued success in the future

From Large N Nonplanar Anomalous Dimensions to Open Spring Theory

In this note we compute the non-planar one loop anomalous dimension of restricted Schur polynomials that have a bare dimension of O(N). This is achieved by mapping the restricted Schur polynomials into states of a specific U(N) irreducible representation. In this way the dilatation operator is mapped into a u(n) valued operator and, as a result, can easily be diagonalized. The resulting spectrum is reproduced by a classical model of springs between masses.Comment: 13+1 pages, 3 figure

Exploring leadership communication in the United Arab Emirates: Issues of culture and gender

This study aims to identify what makes a successful leader in the UAE within the paradigms of leadership styles and leadership communication. In order to do this, we explore, and potentially challenge, a number of the existing leadership stereotypes that are germane to the region, along with the stereotypical discourse strategies that have been associated with the ways in which men and women enact leadership. We wanted to find out if Emirati nationals would prefer the type of discursive leadership that has been associated with women leaders, that is transformational leadership and collaborative communication, or if they would prefer the discursive leadership that has been stereotypically associated with men in equivalent positions, that is laissez-faire, transactional or paternalisticleadership styles, together with the use of a direct and competitive style of communication. Our findings show that a Western understanding of leadership may be too strictly delineated to account for leadership styles in the Gulf, and also that leaders in the region may effectively draw on a combined set of communication strategies that have been stereotypically attributed elsewhere to male and female leaders

Leukotriene antagonists as first-line or add-on asthma controller therapy

Most randomized trials of treatment for asthma study highly selected patients under idealized conditions. METHODS: We conducted two parallel, multicenter, pragmatic trials to evaluate the real-world effectiveness of a leukotriene-receptor antagonist (LTRA) as compared with either an inhaled glucocorticoid for first-line asthma-controller therapy or a long-acting beta(2)-agonist (LABA) as add-on therapy in patients already receiving inhaled glucocorticoid therapy. Eligible primary care patients 12 to 80 years of age had impaired asthma-related quality of life (Mini Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire [MiniAQLQ] score =6) or inadequate asthma control (Asthma Control Questionnaire [ACQ] score =1). We randomly assigned patients to 2 years of open-label therapy, under the care of their usual physician, with LTRA (148 patients) or an inhaled glucocorticoid (158 patients) in the first-line controller therapy trial and LTRA (170 patients) or LABA (182 patients) added to an inhaled glucocorticoid in the add-on therapy trial. RESULTS: Mean MiniAQLQ scores increased by 0.8 to 1.0 point over a period of 2 years in both trials. At 2 months, differences in the MiniAQLQ scores between the two treatment groups met our definition of equivalence (95% confidence interval [CI] for an adjusted mean difference, -0.3 to 0.3). At 2 years, mean MiniAQLQ scores approached equivalence, with an adjusted mean difference between treatment groups of -0.11 (95% CI, -0.35 to 0.13) in the first-line controller therapy trial and of -0.11 (95% CI, -0.32 to 0.11) in the add-on therapy trial. Exacerbation rates and ACQ scores did not differ significantly between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Study results at 2 months suggest that LTRA was equivalent to an inhaled glucocorticoid as first-line controller therapy and to LABA as add-on therapy for diverse primary care patients. Equivalence was not proved at 2 years. The interpretation of results of pragmatic research may be limited by the crossover between treatment groups and lack of a placebo group

Nonplanar integrability at two loops

In this article we compute the action of the two loop dilatation operator on restricted Schur polynomials that belong to the su(2) sector, in the displaced corners approximation. In this non-planar large N limit, operators that diagonalize the one loop dilatation operator are not corrected at two loops. The resulting spectrum of anomalous dimensions is related to a set of decoupled harmonic oscillators, indicating integrability in this sector of the theory at two loops. The anomalous dimensions are a non-trivial function of the 't Hooft coupling, with a spectrum that is continuous and starting at zero at large N, but discrete at finite N.Comment: version to appear in JHE

Contralateral Hemispheric Cerebral Blood Flow Measured With Arterial Spin Labeling Can Predict Outcome in Acute Stroke.

Background and Purpose- Imaging is frequently used to select acute stroke patients for intra-arterial therapy. Quantitative cerebral blood flow can be measured noninvasively with arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging. Cerebral blood flow levels in the contralateral (unaffected) hemisphere may affect capacity for collateral flow and patient outcome. The goal of this study was to determine whether higher contralateral cerebral blood flow (cCBF) in acute stroke identifies patients with better 90-day functional outcome. Methods- Patients were part of the prospective, multicenter iCAS study (Imaging Collaterals in Acute Stroke) between 2013 and 2017. Consecutive patients were enrolled after being diagnosed with anterior circulation acute ischemic stroke. Inclusion criteria were ischemic anterior circulation stroke, baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score ≥1, prestroke modified Rankin Scale score ≤2, onset-to-imaging time <24 hours, with imaging including diffusion-weighted imaging and arterial spin labeling. Patients were dichotomized into high and low cCBF groups based on median cCBF. Outcomes were assessed by day-1 and day-5 National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale; and day-30 and day-90 modified Rankin Scale. Multivariable logistic regression was used to test whether cCBF predicted good neurological outcome (modified Rankin Scale score, 0-2) at 90 days. Results- Seventy-seven patients (41 women) met the inclusion criteria with median (interquartile range) age of 66 (55-76) yrs, onset-to-imaging time of 4.8 (3.6-7.7) hours, and baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score of 13 (9-20). Median cCBF was 38.9 (31.2-44.5) mL per 100 g/min. Higher cCBF predicted good outcome at day 90 (odds ratio, 4.6 [95% CI, 1.4-14.7]; P=0.01), after controlling for baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, diffusion-weighted imaging lesion volume, and intra-arterial therapy. Conclusions- Higher quantitative cCBF at baseline is a significant predictor of good neurological outcome at day 90. cCBF levels may inform decisions regarding stroke triage, treatment of acute stroke, and general outcome prognosis. Clinical Trial Registration- URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT02225730

Prematurity and respiratory outcomes program (PROP): Study protocol of a prospective multicenter study of respiratory outcomes of preterm infants in the United States

Background With improved survival rates, short- and long-term respiratory complications of premature birth are increasing, adding significantly to financial and health burdens in the United States. In response, in May 2010, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) funded a 5-year $18.5 million research initiative to ultimately improve strategies for managing the respiratory complications of preterm and low birth weight infants. Using a collaborative, multi-disciplinary structure, the resulting Prematurity and Respiratory Outcomes Program (PROP) seeks to understand factors that correlate with future risk for respiratory morbidity. Methods/Design The PROP is an observational prospective cohort study performed by a consortium of six clinical centers (incorporating tertiary neonatal intensive care units [NICU] at 13 sites) and a data-coordinating center working in collaboration with the NHLBI. Each clinical center contributes subjects to the study, enrolling infants with gestational ages 23 0/7 to 28 6/7 weeks with an anticipated target of 750 survivors at 36 weeks post-menstrual age. In addition, each center brings specific areas of scientific focus to the Program. The primary study hypothesis is that in survivors of extreme prematurity specific biologic, physiologic and clinical data predicts respiratory morbidity between discharge and 1 year corrected age. Analytic statistical methodology includes model-based and non-model-based analyses, descriptive analyses and generalized linear mixed models. Discussion PROP incorporates aspects of NICU care to develop objective biomarkers and outcome measures of respiratory morbidity in the <29 week gestation population beyond just the NICU hospitalization, thereby leading to novel understanding of the nature and natural history of neonatal lung disease and of potential mechanistic and therapeutic targets in at-risk subjects

Varenicline is More Effective than Nicotine Replacement Therapy During Pregnancy: Findings from the Smoking MUMS (Maternal Use of Medications and Safety) Study

Introduction Studies in the general population suggest that varenicline is more effective than nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for smoking cessation. However, clinical guidelines recommend against the use of varenicline during pregnancy and suggest NRT be used when the expected benefits outweigh the potential risks. Objectives and Approach We evaluated whether varenicline was more effective than NRT for smoking cessation when used during pregnancy. Routinely-collected records of all births (01/01/2011-12/31/2012) in New South Wales and Western Australia were used to identify a cohort of women who smoked during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. Pharmaceutical dispensing data were then linked to identify varenicline or NRT dispensing in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. Smoking cessation was defined as women reported not smoking after the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. Inverse probability of treatment weighting with propensity scores were used to account for differences between the two treatment groups. Results Overall, 117 women used varenicline and 135 NRT in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. In the unweighted sample, more women who used varenicline quit smoking after the first 20 weeks than women using NRT (28.2% vs. 11.1%, crude rate difference:17.1%, 95% confidence intervals[CI]:7.4-26.8%). In the weighted sample, quitting rate was 12.7% (95%CI:0.8-24.6%) higher in pregnant smokers who used varenicline (27.4% vs. 14.7%) when compared to those who used NRT. Conclusion/Implications Pregnant smokers using varenicline were more likely to quit smoking than those using NRT. This information will assist healthcare providers to make informed recommendations, but data regarding safety of varenicline in pregnancy are also urgently needed. Future studies with greater statistical power are required to confirm our results

Pancreatic cancer is marked by complement-high blood monocytes and tumor-associated macrophages

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is accompanied by reprogramming of the local microenvironment, but changes at distal sites are poorly understood. We implanted biomaterial scaffolds, which act as an artificial premetastatic niche, into immunocompetent tumor-bearing and control mice, and identified a unique tumor-specific gene expression signature that includes high expression of C1qa, C1qb, Trem2, and Chil3 Single-cell RNA sequencing mapped these genes to two distinct macrophage populations in the scaffolds, one marked by elevated C1qa, C1qb, and Trem2, the other with high Chil3, Ly6c2 and Plac8 In mice, expression of these genes in the corresponding populations was elevated in tumor-associated macrophages compared with macrophages in the normal pancreas. We then analyzed single-cell RNA sequencing from patient samples, and determined expression of C1QA, C1QB, and TREM2 is elevated in human macrophages in primary tumors and liver metastases. Single-cell sequencing analysis of patient blood revealed a substantial enrichment of the same gene signature in monocytes. Taken together, our study identifies two distinct tumor-associated macrophage and monocyte populations that reflects systemic immune changes in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patients