Integration of sustainability into corporate strategy: a case study of the textile and clothing industry

More and more Textile and Clothing (T&C) companies decide to integrate sustainability into their corporate strategy. Although the T&C industry linked to sustainability has been the subject of various studies, to the best of our knowledge, little research exists, which focuses on the integration of sustainability into corporate strategy in special regards to European T&C companies with global value chains. This dissertation explores a set of institutional, organizational and individual drivers, barriers and success factors for the integration of sustainability into corporate strategy of a European T&C company. The results are based on a case study of the exemplary VAUDE - a family-owned, sustainable outdoor outfitter company and stand in accordance with Institutional Theory and Stakeholder Theory as theoretical frameworks explaining why companies deal with sustainability. The determined drivers are dependent on a coherence of all levels of analysis, i.e. institutional, organizational and individual. The barriers are of institutional and organizational nature only and the success factors are predominantly found on the institutional level. The findings present significant suggestions for other T&C companies that seek to integrate sustainability into their corporate strategy and for the T&C industry to create a sustainability friendly environment to drive more T&C companies to become sustainable. It further supports T&C companies in identifying potential barriers, how to overcome them and successfully integrate sustainability into their corporate strategy. The results reveal, that it only works, if sustainability is strongly integrated into one's corporate strategy and deeply anchored in all departments and daily tasks of a T&C company.Cada vez mais empresas de Têxteis e Vestuário (T&V) decidem integrar sustentabilidade na sua estratégia empresarial. Embora a ligação entre a indústria de T&V e sustentabilidade tenha sido objeto de vários estudos, pouca pesquisa existe, focada na integração de sustentabilidade na estratégia empresarial, nomeadamente em empresas europeias de T&V com cadeias de valor globais. Esta dissertação explora os incentivos, obstáculos e fatores de sucesso institucionais, organizacionais e individuais para a integração de sustentabilidade como estratégia empresarial. Os resultados são baseados no "Case Study" da exemplar VAUDE, uma empresa familiar e sustentável de fornecimento de indumentária para o exterior e estão de acordo com a "Institutional Theory e a Stakeholder Theory", enquadramentos teóricos que explicam porque é que as empresas lidam com sustentabilidade. O estudo mostra que os incentivos estão dependentes de uma coerência coletiva a três níveis - institucional, organizacional e individual. As barreiras são apenas de natureza institucional e organizacional e os fatores de sucesso são predominantemente a nível institucional. Os resultados constituem sugestões para outras empresas de T&V que procurem integrar sustentabilidade na sua estratégia empresarial, bem como para a própria indústria de T&V para criação de um ambiente que promova sustentabilidade, incentivando empresas a tornarem-se sustentáveis. Apoia ainda empresas de T&V a identificar potenciais barreiras, define como devem ser ultrapassadas e como integrar com sucesso sustentabilidade na estratégia empresarial. Os resultados revelam que tal apenas funciona se sustentabilidade estiver fortemente integrada na estratégia empresarial e refletida profundamente em todos os departamentos e tarefas diárias da empresa de T&V

Identification of potentially dangerous glacial lakes in the northern Tien Shan

Like in many other parts of the world, the glaciers in northern Tien Shan are receding, and the permafrost is thawing. Concomitantly, glacial lakes are developing. Historically, outbursts of these glacial lakes have resulted in severe hazards for infrastructures and livelihood. Multi-temporal space imageries are an ideal means to study and monitor glaciers and glacial lakes over large areas. Geomorphometric analysis and modelling allows to estimate the potential danger for glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). This paper presents a comprehensive approach by coupling of remote sensing, geomorphometric analyses aided with GIS modelling for the identification of potentially dangerous glacial lakes. We suggest a classification scheme based on an additive ratio scale in order to prioritise sites for detailed investigations. The identification and monitoring of glacial lakes was carried out semi-automatically using band ratioing and the normalised difference water index (NDWI) based on multi-temporal space imagery from the years 1971 to 2008 using Corona, ASTER and Landsat data. The results were manually edited when required. The probability of the growth of a glacial lake was estimated by analysing glacier changes, glacier motion and slope analysis. A permafrost model was developed based on geomorphometric parameters, solar radiation and regionalised temperature conditions which permitted to assess the influence of potential permafrost thawing. Finally, a GIS-based model was applied to simulate the possibly affected area of lake outbursts. The findings of this study indicate an increasing number and area of glacial lakes in the northern Tien Shan region. We identified several lakes with a medium to high potential for an outburst after a classification according to their outburst probability and their downstream impact. These lakes should be investigated more in detai

New perspectives on plant biodiversity in Germany

Die Bedeutung und der Schutz der Biodiversität ist in Deutschland fest verankert, ersichtlich u.a. durch die prominente Platzierung in Medien und zahlreiche öffentlich geförderte Programme zum Schutz gewisser Arten bis ganzer Ökosysteme. Pflanzen haben in besonderem Maße Einfluss auf die Biodiversität, da sie oftmals die erste Stufe der Nahrungskette bilden und deshalb einer besonderen Achtung bedürfen. In der Vergangenheit wurde der Wichtigkeit der Pflanzen durch zahlreiche Gemälde, Zeichnungen und Bücher Rechnung getragen (z. B. Ciba-Geigy Unkrauttafeln, etc.). Die Pflanzenschutz-Industrie verfügt zusammen mit öffentlichen Forschungseinrichtungen über ein profundes Wissen der Pflanzenarten in landwirtschaftlichen Nutzflächen. Wir möchten mit diesem Artikel auf die neuen digitalen Hilfsmittel für die Unkraut-bestimmung und -kontrolle hinweisen, in besonderem Maße auf Smartphone-Applikationen am Beispiel unserer Applikation Proximais®, die u.a. Informationen über 320 in Europa auftretende Unkräuter enthält. Diese soll den Landwirten eine wertvolle Hilfe bei der Bestimmung und Behandlung auftretender Unkräuter sein. Zusätzlich zu solchen praktischen Nutzungen bietet diese neue Technologie viele weitere Chancen in Bezug auf Erweiterung des Wissens über Pflanzen. Eine Erweiterung der Pflanzendatenbank über häufig auftretende Unkräuter hinaus, zusammen mit einem Ausbau des Nutzerkreises könnte zum ersten Mal eine breite Dokumentation und Kartierung der Pflanzenarten auf landwirtschaftlichen Flächen in Deutschland erlauben.Importance and protection of biodiversity is common sense in Germany shown by notable media coverage and many publicly funded programs to support certain species up to whole ecosystems. Plants have a huge influence on biodiversity since they represent largely the first layer of the food chain and deserve therefore special attention. In the past great work has been done to capture and share knowledge about plant species through books and paintings (e.g. Ciba-Geigy Weed Tables, etc.). Together with public research institutions, the crop protection industry has a profound knowledge of plant species in agricultural fields. We report here on new options around digital agronomy, especially smartphone applications, and provide a sound overview on what is available and useful, including our new app Proximais® containing phenotypic and ecological information of 320 European weeds. It is intended to provide valuable support to farmers during weed identification and management. In addition to such new practical capabilities, this new technology has a great potential to increase and update our knowledge about plant species further. Enlarging the plant species database beyond classical weeds while enlarging the user base could, for the first time, allow a broad documentation and mapping of plant species on agricultural land in Germany

Glacier branch lines and glacier ice thickness estimation for debris-covered glaciers in the Central Tien Shan

Information about the ice volume stored in glaciers is of high importance for sustainable water management in many arid regions of Central Asia. Several methods to estimate the ice volume exist. However, none of them take the specific characteristics of flat terminus debris-covered glaciers into account. We present a method for deriving spatially-distributed ice thickness for debris-covered dendritic glaciers, which are common not only in Central Tien Shan but also in several other mountain ranges in High Asia. The method relies on automatically generated branch lines, observed surface velocities and surface topographic parameters as basic input. Branch lines were generated using Thiessen polygons and Dijkstra's path algorithm. Ice thicknesses for four debris-covered glaciers - South Inylchek, Kaindy, Tomur and Koxkar glaciers - have been estimated along the branch line network solving the equation of laminar flow. For Koxkar and South Inylchek glaciers, respectively, maximum thicknesses of 250 and 380 m were estimated. These results differ by 50 m compared with GPR measurements with an uncertainty for the debris-covered parts of 40%. Based on geodetic mass balances, we estimate that the investigated glaciers lost between 6 and 28% of their volume from 1975 to the early 2000s.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Differences in Shedding of the Interleukin-11 Receptor by the Proteases ADAM9, ADAM10, ADAM17, Meprin α, Meprin β and MT1-MMP

Interleukin-11 (IL-11) has been associated with inflammatory conditions, bone homeostasis, hematopoiesis, and fertility. So far, these functions have been linked to classical IL-11 signaling via the membrane bound receptor (IL-11R). However, a signaling cascade via the soluble IL-11R (sIL-11R), generated by proteolytic cleavage, can also be induced. This process is called IL-11 trans-signaling. A disintegrin and metalloprotease 10 (ADAM10) and neutrophil elastase were described as ectodomain sheddases of the IL-11R, thereby inducing trans-signaling. Furthermore, previous studies employing approaches for the stimulation and inhibition of endogenous ADAM-proteases indicated that ADAM10, but not ADAM17, can cleave the IL-11R. Herein, we show that several metalloproteases, namely ADAM9, ADAM10, ADAM17, meprin β, and membrane-type 1 matrix metalloprotease/matrix metalloprotease-14 (MT1-MMP/MMP-14) when overexpressed are able to shed the IL-11R. All sIL-11R ectodomains were biologically active and capable of inducing signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) phosphorylation in target cells. The difference observed for ADAM10/17 specificity compared to previous studies can be explained by the different approaches used, such as stimulation of protease activity or making use of cells with genetically deleted enzymes

Characterization of the Cancer-Associated Meprin Beta Variants G45R and G89R

Meprin β is a metalloprotease associated with neurodegeneration, inflammation, extracellular matrix homeostasis, transendothelial cell migration, and cancer. In this study, we investigated two melanoma-associated variants of meprin β, both exhibiting a single amino acid exchange, namely, meprin β G45R and G89R. Based on the structural data of meprin β and with regard to the position of the amino acid exchanges, we hypothesized an increase in proteolytic activity in the case of the G45R variant due to the induction of a potential new activation site and a decrease in proteolytic activity from the G89R variant due to structural instability. Indeed, the G89R variant showed, overall, a reduced expression level compared to wild-type meprin β, accompanied by decreased activity and lower cell surface expression but strong accumulation in the endoplasmic reticulum. This was further supported by the analysis of the shedding of the interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R) by meprin β and its variants. In transfected HEK cells, the G89R variant was found to generate less soluble IL-6R, whereas the expression of meprin β G45R resulted in increased shedding of the IL-6R compared to wild-type meprin β and the G89R variant. A similar tendency of the induced shedding capacity of G45R was seen for the well-described meprin β substrate CD99. Furthermore, employing an assay for cell migration in a collagen IV matrix, we observed that the transfection of wild-type meprin β and the G45R variant resulted in increased migration of HeLa cells, while the G89R variant led to diminished mobility

Association between usual dietary intake of food groups and DNA methylation and effect modification by metabotype in the KORA FF4 cohort

Associations between diet and DNA methylation may vary among subjects with different metabolic states, which can be captured by clustering populations in metabolically homogenous subgroups, called metabotypes. Our aim was to examine the relationship between habitual consumption of various food groups and DNA methylation as well as to test for effect modification by metabotype. A cross-sectional analysis of participants (median age 58 years) of the population-based prospective KORA FF4 study, habitual dietary intake was modeled based on repeated 24-h diet recalls and a food frequency questionnaire. DNA methylation was measured using the Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip providing data on >850,000 sites in this epigenome-wide association study (EWAS). Three metabotype clusters were identified using four standard clinical parameters and BMI. Regression models were used to associate diet and DNA methylation, and to test for effect modification. Few significant signals were identified in the basic analysis while many significant signals were observed in models including food group-metabotype interaction terms. Most findings refer to interactions of food intake with metabotype 3, which is the metabotype with the most unfavorable metabolic profile. This research highlights the importance of the metabolic characteristics of subjects when identifying associations between diet and white blood cell DNA methylation in EWAS

Impact of BMI and waist circumference on epigenome-wide DNA methylation and identification of epigenetic biomarkers in blood: an EWAS in multi-ethnic Asian individuals

Background The prevalence of obesity and its related chronic diseases have been increasing especially in Asian countries. Obesity-related genetic variants have been identified, but these explain little of the variation in BMI. Recent studies reported associations between DNA methylation and obesity, mostly in non-Asian populations. Methods We performed an epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) on general adiposity (body mass index, BMI) and abdominal adiposity (waist circumference, WC) in 409 multi-ethnic Asian individuals and replicated BMI and waist-associated DNA methylation CpGs identified in other populations. The cross-lagged panel model and Mendelian randomization were used to assess the temporal relationship between methylation and BMI. The temporal relationship between the identified CpGs and inflammation and metabolic markers was also examined. Results EWAS identified 116 DNA methylation CpGs independently associated with BMI and eight independently associated with WC at false discovery rate P-FDR < 0.05 in 409 Asian samples. We replicated 110 BMI-associated CpGs previously reported in Europeans and identified six novel BMI-associated CpGs and two novel WC-associated CpGs. We observed high consistency in association direction of effect compared to studies in other populations. Causal relationship analyses indicated that BMI was more likely to be the cause of DNA methylation alteration, rather than the consequence. The causal analyses using BMI-associated methylation risk score also suggested that higher levels of the inflammation marker IL-6 were likely the consequence of methylation change. Conclusion Our study provides evidence of an association between obesity and DNA methylation in multi-ethnic Asians and suggests that obesity can drive methylation change. The results also suggested possible causal influence that obesity-related methylation changes might have on inflammation and lipoprotein levels

Rare variants in LRRK1 and Parkinson's disease

Approximately 20 % of individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) report a positive family history. Yet, a large portion of causal and disease-modifying variants is still unknown. We used exome sequencing in two affected individuals from a family with late-onset PD to identify 15 potentially causal variants. Segregation analysis and frequency assessment in 862 PD cases and 1,014 ethnically matched controls highlighted variants in EEF1D and LRRK1 as the best candidates. Mutation screening of the coding regions of these genes in 862 cases and 1,014 controls revealed several novel non-synonymous variants in both genes in cases and controls. An in silico multi-model bioinformatics analysis was used to prioritize identified variants in LRRK1 for functional follow- up. However, protein expression, subcellular localization, and cell viability were not affected by the identified variants. Although it has yet to be proven conclusively that variants in LRRK1 are indeed causative of PD, our data strengthen a possible role for LRRK1 in addition to LRRK2 in the genetic underpinnings of PD but, at the same time, highlight the difficulties encountered in the study of rare variants identified by next-generation sequencing in diseases with autosomal dominant or complex patterns of inheritance