Corporate reputation in the spanish context: An interaction between reporting to stakeholders and industry.

ABSTRACT: The authors describe the intensity and orientation of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting in four Spanish industries and explore the relationship that exists between both concepts and an independent measurement of reputation for CSR (CSRR). The results demonstrate that the CSR reporting is especially relevant and useful in the finance industry. Finance companies report significantly more CSR information than most industries in Spain, and this reporting is more closely linked to their CSRR than the CSR reporting of basic, consumer goods and services industries. Borra

Immunological Cross-Reactivity between Malaria Vaccine Target Antigen P48/45 in <i>Plasmodium vivax</i> and <i>P</i>. <i>falciparum</i> and Cross–Boosting of Immune Responses

<div><p>In general, malaria immunity has been suggested to be species specific with very little, if any, known cross-reactivity between <i>Plasmodium vivax</i> and <i>P</i>. <i>falciparum</i>, both of which are responsible for >90% of human malaria, and co-endemic in many countries. It is therefore believed that species-specific immunity may be needed to target different species of <i>Plasmodium</i>. Pfs48/45 and Pvs48/45 are well established targets in the sexual stages of the malaria parasites, and are being pursued for the development of transmission blocking vaccines. Comparison of their sequences reveals 61% and 55% identity at the DNA and protein level, respectively raising the possibility that these two target antigens might share cross-reacting epitopes. Having succeeded in expressing recombinant Pfs48/45 and Pvs48/45 proteins, we hypothesized that these proteins will not only exhibit immunological cross–reactivity but also cross-boost immune responses. Mice were immunized with purified recombinant proteins using CFA, Montanide ISA-51 and alum as adjuvants, and the sera were analyzed by ELISA, Western blotting and indirect fixed and live IFA to address the hypothesis. Our studies revealed that Pvs48/45-immune sera showed strong cross-reactivity to full length Pfs48/45 protein, and the majority of this cross reactivity was in the amino-terminal and carboxyl-terminal sub-fragments of Pfs48/45. In cross-boosting experiments Pfs48/45 and Pvs48/45 antigens were able to cross-boost each other in mouse immunization studies. Additionally we also noticed an effect of adjuvants in the overall magnitude of observed cross-reactivity. These studies may have significant implications for immunity targeting transmission of both the species of malaria parasites.</p></div

Modelling Weed Seedbank Dormancy and Germination

Weeds are usually more vulnerable to control practices at the seedling stage or at early stages of their growth. Therefore, developing models to predict the timing and extent of weed emergence is useful to assist farmers and agronomist to time pre- and post-emergence control practices to increase their efficacy. However, many important weeds forming persistence seedbanks in agricultural fields present dormancy. In those species, the number of established seedlings is strongly related to the dormancy level of the seedbank, and the timing of seedling emergence depends on the seasonal variation in seedbank dormancy level. Therefore, if we pretend to predict timing and extent of seedling emergence, we should include the regulation of the seedbank dormancy level in our predictive models. In this chapter, we present a conceptual framework to understand how dormancy and germination of weed seedbanks are regulated by the environment. This framework is based on the distinction between those factors that regulate seasonal changes in the seedbank dormancy level (i.e. temperature in interaction with seed moisture content) and those factors that terminate dormancy (i.e. light and alternating temperatures). Changes in the seedbank dormancy level are related to changes in the range of environmental conditions permissive for seed germination, as, for example, the thermal range permissive for germination which is defined by the lower and the higher limit temperatures. Seeds germinate when environmental conditions are within the permissive range, for example, seeds begging to accumulate thermal time towards germination once soil temperature overlaps the permissive thermal range. We present examples of how these concepts can be used to establish functional relationships between dormancy and germination regulating factors (i.e. temperature) and changes in seedbank population dormancy level and germination dynamics in order to develop mechanistic models to predict the timing and extent of weed seedling emergence in the field.Fil: Batlla, Diego. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; ArgentinaFil: Malavert Pineda, Cristian Jonatan. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; ArgentinaFil: Fernández, Rocío Belén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; ArgentinaFil: Benech-Arnold, Roberto Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; Argentin