Buy High Sell Low: Redefining Bean Counting in the Coffee Industry for a Sustainable Future

Charles Manz returns to the JVBL providing ‒ together with several fellow researchers/writers ‒ a case study of a socially responsible business within the coffee industry. Familiar CSR concepts are examined such as Fair Trade and sustainability which foster parity in dealing with buyers while maintaining product quality and reasonable income. The practices of Dean’s Beans, a progressive coffee organization, are examined as a notable demonstration of how a business can fiscally succeed while maintaining a commitment to the triple-bottom-line considerations of people, planet, and profits

Succeeding Through Collaborative Conflict: The Paradoxical Lessons of Shared Leadership

Facing serious challenges that may dictate the complete overhaul of business mindset and industry must be directed by sound leadership. But is it possible to lead alone or is collaboration necessary to confront these challenges? These authors tackle the well-known idiom “two heads are better than one” and extract from its meaning the inherent dichotomy in shared leadership, mediating differences of direction, and preserving the integrity of individual perspective in this new age

Authentic Corporate Social Responsibility Based on Authentic Empowerment: An Exemplary Business Leadership Case

Authors Dillon, Back, and Manz examine the underpinnings of genuine or authentic Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), noting the direct nexus between stakeholder empowerment and the socially-responsible actions of authentic leaders. Such an empowering leadership approach– involving structural, psychological, developmental, and financial components – is particularly exemplified by a family-owned (Back) wine and cheese company (Fairview Trust), situate in South Africa

Dynamic Leadership: Toolbox for the Values-Based Entrepreneur

Four entrepreneurship models are proposed which lend guidance in the development of a business, from birth to exit, each examining ways to maintain the business founder’s initial vision and to continue to infuse values and ethical decision-making at each stage of development

HTLV-1 propels thymic human T cell development in “human immune system” Rag2-/- IL-2R γc-/- Mice

Alteration of early haematopoietic development is thought to be responsible for the onset of immature leukemias and lymphomas. We have previously demonstrated that TaxHTLV-1 interferes with ß-selection, an important checkpoint of early thymopoiesis, indicating that human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection has the potential to perturb thymic human αβ T-cell development. To verify that inference and to clarify the impact of HTLV-1 infection on human T-cell development, we investigated the in vivo effects of HTLV-1 infection in a “Human Immune System” (HIS) Rag2-/-γc-/- mouse model. These mice were infected with HTLV-1, at a time when the three main subpopulations of human thymocytes have been detected. In all but two inoculated mice, the HTLV-1 provirus was found integrated in thymocytes; the proviral load increased with the length of the infection period. In the HTLV-1-infected mice we observed alterations in human T-cell development, the extent of which correlated with the proviral load. Thus, in the thymus of HTLV-1-infected HIS Rag2-/-γc-/- mice, mature single-positive (SP) CD4+ and CD8+ cells were most numerous, at the expense of immature and double-positive (DP) thymocytes. These SP cells also accumulated in the spleen. Human lymphocytes from thymus and spleen were activated, as shown by the expression of CD25: this activation was correlated with the presence of tax mRNA and with increased expression of NF-kB dependent genes such as bfl-1, an anti-apoptotic gene, in thymocytes. Finally, hepato-splenomegaly, lymphadenopathy and lymphoma/thymoma, in which Tax was detected, were observed in HTLV-1-infected mice, several months after HTLV-1 infection. These results demonstrate the potential of the HIS Rag2-/-γc-/- animal model to elucidate the initial steps of the leukemogenic process induced by HTLV-1

HTLV-1 propels thymic human T cell development in “human immune system” Rag2-/- gamma c-/- Mice

Alteration of early haematopoietic development is thought to be responsible for the onset of immature leukemias and lymphomas. We have previously demonstrated that TaxHTLV-1 interferes with ß- selection, an important checkpoint of early thymopoiesis, indicating that human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection has the potential to perturb thymic human αβ T-cell development. To verify that inference and to clarify the impact of HTLV-1 infection on human T-cell development, we investigated the in vivo effects of HTLV-1 infection in a “Human Immune System” (HIS) Rag2-/-γc-/- mouse model. These mice were infected with HTLV-1, at a time when the three main subpopulations of human thymocytes have been detected. In all but two inoculated mice, the HTLV-1 provirus was found integrated in thymocytes; the proviral load increased with the length of the infection period. In the HTLV-1-infected mice we observed alterations in human T-cell development, the extent of which correlated with the proviral load. Thus, in the thymus of HTLV-1-infected HIS Rag2-/-γc-/- mice, mature single-positive (SP) CD4+ and CD8+ cells were most numerous, at the expense of immature and double-positive (DP) thymocytes. These SP cells also accumulated in the spleen. Human lymphocytes from thymus and spleen were activated, as shown by the expression of CD25: this activation was correlated with the presence of tax mRNA and with increased expression of NF-kB dependent genes such as bfl-1, an anti-apoptotic gene, in thymocytes. Finally, hepato-splenomegaly, lymphadenopathy and lymphoma/thymoma, in which Tax was detected, were observed in HTLV-1-infected mice, several months after HTLV-1 infection. These results demonstrate the potential of the HIS Rag2-/-γc-/- animal model to elucidate the initial steps of the leukemogenic process induced by HTLV-1

Competition between market-making Intermediaries

Abstract We introduce capacity constrained competition between market-making intermediaries in a model in which agents can choose between trading with intermediaries, joining a search market or remaining inactive. Recently, market-making by a monopolistic intermediary has been analyzed by Keywords: Market-making, capacity constrained competition, market microstructure. JEL-Classification: C72, D41, D43, L13. * Economics Department, University of Bern, Vereinsweg 23, CH-3012 Bern Email: [email protected] This is a preliminary version of chapter 2 of my PhDthesis. I want to thank Ernst Baltensperger, Esther Brügger, Alain Egli, Thomas Gehrig, Christian Ghiligno, Armin Hartmann, Roland Hodler, Michael Manz, Gerd Mühlheusser JeanCharles Rochet, Yves Schneider and Manuel Wälti for valuable comments and discussions. Any remaining errors are mine

Neutrophils in cancer: neutral no more

Neutrophils are indispensable antagonists of microbial infection and facilitators of wound healing. In the cancer setting, a newfound appreciation for neutrophils has come into view. The traditionally held belief that neutrophils are inert bystanders is being challenged by the recent literature. Emerging evidence indicates that tumours manipulate neutrophils, sometimes early in their differentiation process, to create diverse phenotypic and functional polarization states able to alter tumour behaviour. In this Review, we discuss the involvement of neutrophils in cancer initiation and progression, and their potential as clinical biomarkers and therapeutic targets

Distinct factors determine the kinetics of disease relapse in adults transplanted for acute myeloid leukaemia

Background: Disease recurrence remains the major cause of death in adults with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) treated using either intensive chemotherapy (IC) or allogenic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). Aims: The timely delivery of maintenance drug or cellular therapies represent emerging strategies with the potential to reduce relapse after both treatment modalities, but whilst the determinants of overall relapse risk have been extensively characterized the factors determining the timing of disease recurrence have not been characterized. Materials and Methods: We have therefore examined, using a series of sequential landmark analyses, relapse kinetics in a cohort of 2028 patients who received an allo-SCT for AML in CR1 and separately 570 patients treated with IC alone. Results: In the first 3 months after allo-SCT, the factors associated with an increased risk of relapse included the presence of the FLT3-ITD (P < 0.001), patient age (P = 0.012), time interval from CR1 to transplant (P < 0.001) and donor type (P = 0.03). Relapse from 3 to 6 months was associated with a higher white cell count at diagnosis (P = 0.001), adverse-risk cytogenetics (P < 0.001), presence of FLT3-ITD mutation (P < 0.001) and time interval to achieve first complete remission (P = 0.013). Later relapse was associated with adverse cytogenetics, mutated NPM1, absence of chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and the use of in vivo T-cell depletion. In patients treated with IC alone, the factors associated with relapse in the first 3 months were adverse-risk cytogenetics (P < 0.001) and FLT3-ITD status (P = 0.001). The factors predicting later relapse were the time interval from diagnosis to CR1 (P = 0.22) and time interval from CR1 to IC (P = 0.012). Discussion and Conclusion: Taken together, these data provide novel insights into the biology of disease recurrence after both allo-SCT and IC and have the potential to inform the design of novel maintenance strategies in both clinical settings