Linkages between corporate social responsibility and sustainability in manufacturing organisations: An empirical study

This study aims at exploring the interrelationships between sustainability factors (commitment and motivators) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) factors (commitment and motivators) and how they affect each other in manufacturing organisations. Data were collected using a survey from 47 food manufacturing organisations in Palestine and were analysed using the PLSSEM modeling technique. The results suggest there are strong linkages between CSR factors (commitment and motivators) and sustainability factors (commitment and motivators). The CSR commitment factors have the strongest relationship with CSR motivators and sustainability motivators, which indicate that corporate commitment to CSR positively influences the level of corporate sustainable performance

Food determinants and motivation factors impact on consumer behavior in Lebanon

The current study looks at a variety of factors that affect eating patterns. This is about internal and external aspects that lead to a thorough assessment of consumer behavior, with an emphasis on driving forces and obstacles that significantly affect each consumer’s food preferences. The information is based on questionnaire research of traditional and fiber food consumption as well as specific consumer purchasing behaviors. The results of the questionnaire survey were analyzed using qualitative aspects analysis and other statistical methods (ANOVA, t-test). The study’s goal is to provide comprehensive strategies that encourage and support the intake of nutritious meals, especially in light of how different food motivations and knowledge factors influence Lebanese consumer behavior. Based on the findings, individual eating motivation and its impact on consumers’ behavior in Lebanon when making food purchase decisions were found. Sources of potential influences include information, the social environment, and environmental variables. Processes like social learning influence the interplay between these components as well as food choices and eating habits. As a result, future programs to encourage healthy eating habits might profit by putting more of an emphasis on learning principles and food preferences when programs are implemented.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Understanding the role of media and food labels to disseminate food related information in Lebanon

Today’s consumers are becoming more aware of what they consume and the implications that a proper diet can have for their health. This work aimed to understand how Lebanese people get information about foods, and which communication media they consider the most appropriate. Also, the attitudes toward food labelling were assessed. This was a cross-sectional study undertaken by means of a questionnaire survey on a sample of 258 Lebanese participants. Data analysis used statistical tools such as T-test and ANOVA with post hoc to test possible group differences or Cronbach’s alpha to assess internal scale reliability. The results showed that radio was the first choice as a media tool used by Lebanese people for gathering food information (29.1%), followed by hospitals (23.3%), and the participants also considered that these are the most appropriate means to communicate information (28.3 and 22.5%, respectively). Regarding the Lebanese behaviour on nutrition labelling, nearly half of the participants (44.6%) very frequently or always check the food labels but some showed no interest in the components and the fibres they contain. Reliability analysis showed that the items used to assess the food labelling scale have a very high internal consistency (α = 0.847). So, the Lebanese people tend to rely on radio for information about food and the labels are considered as important source of information as well. Nevertheless, Lebanese don’t consult the nutritional composition as often as desirable in order to adjust their purchases or compare to different items, aimed at healthier food choices. So in order to inform Lebanese people about related food rich in fibres and to instigate their purchasing intentions, the producing companies must rely on marketing campaigns through radio and on labels not just the information in nutritional composition.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Maternal serum CA-125 repeated measurement during pregnancy and how to use as a prognostic factor of first trimester pregnancy outcome

Background: The aim of this study was to estimate the prognostic efficacy of repeated measurement of maternal serum CA125 in first trimester threatened miscarriage.Methods: Prospective case control study was conducted in the outpatient clinic. 100 pregnant women were divided into 50 women with normal course of pregnancy, and the other 50 were subdivided into 25 pregnant women with lower abdominal pain without vaginal bleeding and 25 presented with minimal vaginal bleeding. Repeated measuring of serum CA125 was done for each case on the 5th, 10th weeks of gestation.Results: Findings of this study suggested the possibility of using serum CA-125 for determining the prognosis of first trimester threatened miscarriage with cut-off value of CA125 38.25 U/ml on the 5th week of gestation and 53 U/ml on the 10th week of gestation in patients presented with pain only but in patients presented with minimal vaginal bleeding the cut-off value of CA125 on the 5th week of gestation become 45.6 U/ml and 68 U/ml on the 10th week of gestation.Conclusions: CA125, on its own, can discriminate between continued and non-continued pregnancy.

Magnetic Behavior of a Mixed Ising Ferrimagnetic Model in an Oscillating Magnetic Field

The magnetic behavior of a mixed Ising ferrimagnetic system on a square lattice, in which the two interpenetrating square sublattices have spins +- 1/2 and spins +-1,0, in the presence of an oscillating magnetic field has been studied with Monte Carlo techniques. The model includes nearest and next-nearest neighbor interactions, a crystal field and the oscillating external field. By studying the hysteretic response of this model to an oscillating field we found that it qualitatively reproduces the increasing of the coercive field at the compensation temperature observed in real ferrimagnets, a crucial feature for magneto-optical applications. This behavior is basically independent of the frequency of the field and the size of the system. The magnetic response of the system is related to a dynamical transition from a paramagnetic to a ferromagnetic phase and to the different temperature dependence of the relaxation times of both sublattices.Comment: 10 figures. To be published in Phys.Rev

Computer simulation of the sheath and the adjacent plasma in the presence of a plasma source

A model is constructed allowing computer simulations of the near-wall area of a planar plasma sheet in conditions where the steady state of the plasma is supported by the production of charged particles in a region removed from the wall. Calculations have revealed variation in the energy distribution of the electrons in both time and spatially over the sheet width (cooling the electronic component) due to absorption of fast electrons at the walls bounding the plasma volume. It is shown that the plasma density profile across the sheet width has an abrupt decrease at the boundary of the region of plasma regulation. Thus the standard concepts of the potential and plasma density distributions in the sheath and presheath based on the assumption of a stable energy distribution for the electrons in the presheath yields inaccurate results for the plasma sheet where the ionization source is remote from the wall

Increased long-term mortality in women with high left ventricular ejection fraction: data from the CONFIRM (COronary CT Angiography EvaluatioN For Clinical Outcomes: An InteRnational Multicenter) long-term registry

Aims: There are significant sex-specific differences in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), with a higher LVEF being observed in women. We sought to assess the clinical relevance of an increased LVEF in women and men. Methods and results: A total of 4632 patients from the CONFIRM (COronary CT Angiography EvaluatioN For Clinical Outcomes: An InteRnational Multicenter) registry (44.8% women; mean age 58.7 \ub1 13.2 years in men and 59.5 \ub1 13.3 years in women, P = 0.05), in whom LVEF was measured by cardiac computed tomography, were categorized according to LVEF (low <55%, normal 55-65%, and high >65%). The prevalence of high LVEF was similar in both sexes (33.5% in women and 32.5% in men, P = 0.46). After 6 years of follow-up, no difference in mortality was observed in patients with high LVEF in the overall cohort (P = 0.41). When data were stratified by sex, women with high LVEF died more often from any cause as compared to women with normal LVEF (8.6% vs. 7.1%, log rank P = 0.032), while an opposite trend was observed in men (5.8% vs. 6.8% in normal LVEF, log rank P = 0.89). Accordingly, a first order interaction term of male sex and high LVEF was significant (hazard ratios 0.63, 95% confidence intervals 0.41-0.98, P = 0.043) in a Cox regression model of all-cause mortality adjusted for age, cardiovascular risk factors, and severity of coronary artery disease (CAD). Conclusion: Increased LVEF is highly prevalent in patients referred for evaluation of CAD and is associated with an increased risk of death in women, but not in men. Differentiating between normal and hyperdynamic left ventricles might improve risk stratification in women with CAD

Public Availability of Published Research Data in High-Impact Journals

BACKGROUND: There is increasing interest to make primary data from published research publicly available. We aimed to assess the current status of making research data available in highly-cited journals across the scientific literature. METHODS AND RESULTS: We reviewed the first 10 original research papers of 2009 published in the 50 original research journals with the highest impact factor. For each journal we documented the policies related to public availability and sharing of data. Of the 50 journals, 44 (88%) had a statement in their instructions to authors related to public availability and sharing of data. However, there was wide variation in journal requirements, ranging from requiring the sharing of all primary data related to the research to just including a statement in the published manuscript that data can be available on request. Of the 500 assessed papers, 149 (30%) were not subject to any data availability policy. Of the remaining 351 papers that were covered by some data availability policy, 208 papers (59%) did not fully adhere to the data availability instructions of the journals they were published in, most commonly (73%) by not publicly depositing microarray data. The other 143 papers that adhered to the data availability instructions did so by publicly depositing only the specific data type as required, making a statement of willingness to share, or actually sharing all the primary data. Overall, only 47 papers (9%) deposited full primary raw data online. None of the 149 papers not subject to data availability policies made their full primary data publicly available. CONCLUSION: A substantial proportion of original research papers published in high-impact journals are either not subject to any data availability policies, or do not adhere to the data availability instructions in their respective journals. This empiric evaluation highlights opportunities for improvement