Encouraging Investors to Enable Corporate Sustainability Transitions: The Case of Responsible Investment in France

This paper studies the case of the socially responsible investment (SRI) industry in France. This case accounts for how the SRI category and practices have successfully moved from the margins of the industry in the late 1990s to become mainstream over two decades. We bring to the forefront the importance of three complementary factors in the process of causing corporations to transition toward more sustainable businesses: the role of investors and, in particular, institutional investors; the importance of the presence of a clear category definition and of intermediary organizations, providing ratings, scores, and other calculative devices; and the role of governments and regulators. With other studies, this case stresses the fundamental influence of investors in how corporations manage sustainability transitions

A Genome-Wide Comparative Evolutionary Analysis of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 and Varicella Zoster Virus

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and varicella zoster virus (VZV) are closely related viruses causing lifelong infections. They are typically associated with mucocutaneous or skin lesions, but may also cause severe neurological or ophthalmic diseases, possibly due to viral- and/or host-genetic factors. Although these viruses are well characterized, genome-wide evolutionary studies have hitherto only been presented for VZV. Here, we present a genome-wide study on HSV-1. We also compared the evolutionary characteristics of HSV-1 with those for VZV. We demonstrate that, in contrast to VZV for which only a few ancient recombination events have been suggested, all HSV-1 genomes contain mosaic patterns of segments with different evolutionary origins. Thus, recombination seems to occur extremely frequent for HSV-1. We conclude by proposing a timescale for HSV-1 evolution, and by discussing putative underlying mechanisms for why these otherwise biologically similar viruses have such striking evolutionary differences

Convergence versus Divergence: Testing Varieties of Capitalism Perspective on the Globalization of Business Practices

This paper analyses links between intra-organizational adaptation and institutional variation across countries. Using the varieties of capitalism viewpoint, we examine strategic options open to multinational firms operating simultaneously in liberal market economies and coordinated market economies. A holistic perspective is achieved by implementing an original ‘index of institutional impact.’ Data are drawn from a survey of the subsidiaries of German firms in the UK in 2007. The results suggest that pressure towards accepting local practices for multinational firms varies across the dimensions in which firms resolve coordination problems, inciting speedy convergence in some, but allowing for maintaining distinctive practices in other

The association between adult attained height and sitting height with mortality in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition (EPIC)

Adult height and sitting height may reflect genetic and environmental factors, including early life nutrition, physical and social environments. Previous studies have reported divergent associations for height and chronic disease mortality, with positive associations observed for cancer mortality but inverse associations for circulatory disease mortality. Sitting height might be more strongly associated with insulin resistance; however, data on sitting height and mortality is sparse. Using the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study, a prospective cohort of 409,748 individuals, we examined adult height and sitting height in relation to all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Height was measured in the majority of participants; sitting height was measured in ~253,000 participants. During an average of 12.5 years of follow-up, 29,810 deaths (11,931 from cancer and 7,346 from circulatory disease) were identified. Hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for death were calculated using multivariable Cox regression within quintiles of height. Height was positively associated with cancer mortality (men: HRQ5 vs. Q1=1.11, 95%CI=1.00-1.24; women: HRQ5 vs. Q1=1.17, 95%CI=1.07-1.28). In contrast, height was inversely associated with circulatory disease mortality (men: HRQ5 vs. Q1=0.63, 95%CI=0.56-0.71; women: HRQ5 vs. Q1=0.81, 95%CI=0.70-0.93). Although sitting height was not associated with cancer mortality, it was inversely associated with circulatory disease (men: HRQ5 vs. Q1=0.64, 95%CI=0.55-0.75; women: HRQ5 vs. Q1=0.60, 95%CI=0.49-0.74) and respiratory disease mortality (men: HRQ5 vs. Q1=0.45, 95%CI=0.28-0.71; women: HRQ5 vs. Q1=0.60, 95%CI=0.40-0.89). We observed opposing effects of height on cancer and circulatory disease mortality. Sitting height was inversely associated with circulatory disease and respiratory disease mortality

UK guideline on transition of adolescent and young persons with chronic digestive diseases from paediatric to adult care

The risks of poor transition include delayed and inappropriate transfer that can result in disengagement with healthcare. Structured transition care can improve control of chronic digestive diseases and long-term health-related outcomes. These are the first nationally developed guidelines on the transition of adolescent and young persons (AYP) with chronic digestive diseases from paediatric to adult care. They were commissioned by the Clinical Services and Standards Committee of the British Society of Gastroenterology under the auspices of the Adolescent and Young Persons (A&YP) Section. Electronic searches for English-language articles were performed with keywords relating to digestive system diseases and transition to adult care in the Medline (via Ovid), PsycInfo (via Ovid), Web of Science and CINAHL databases for studies published from 1980 to September 2014. The quality of evidence and grading of recommendations was appraised using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system. The limited number of studies in gastroenterology and hepatology required the addition of relevant studies from other chronic diseases to be included. These guidelines deal specifically with the transition of AYP living with a diagnosis of chronic digestive disease and/or liver disease from paediatric to adult healthcare under the following headings; 1. Patient populations involved in AYP transition 2. Risks of failing transition or poor transition 3. Models of AYP transition 4. Patient and carer/parent perspective in AYP transition 5. Surgical perspectiv

Lawson criterion for ignition exceeded in an inertial fusion experiment

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation" into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven" (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this Letter reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion

Global wealth disparities drive adherence to COVID-safe pathways in head and neck cancer surgery

Peer reviewe