Volunteer tourism, greenwashing and understanding responsible marketing using market signalling theory

Volunteer tourism has been heavily criticised for its negative consequences on destinations and volunteers, often the direct result of unrealistic demand-led marketing and lack of consideration for the environmental and social costs of host communities. While some industry participants have responded through adherence to best practice, little information or support is available about how to responsibly market volunteer tourism. This research uses an online content analysis based on the International Voluntourism Guidelines for Commercial Operators to understand the use of responsibility as a market signalling tool. Five influential web pages of eight organisations are scored across 19 responsibility criteria and compared against the organisation’s legal status, product type and price. We find that responsibility is not used for market signalling; preference is given to communicating what is easy, and not what is important. The status of the organisation is no guarantee of responsible practice, and price and responsibility communications display an inverse relationship. We conclude volunteer tourism operators are overpositioning and communicating responsibility inconsistently, which highlights greenwashing, requiring at least industry-wide codes of practice, and at best, regulation. This paper reflects on its methodological limitations, and on its practical achievements in encouraging change within some of the organisations examined

Towards climate resilience in agriculture for Southeast Asia: an overview for decision-makers.

This sourcebook, and accompanying poster learning series, is aimed at policy makers, planners in government, local research administrators, civil society partners and researchers in Southeast Asia. Compiled and repackaged by Dr. Julian Gonsalves and a resource team, the Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) source book draws from a rich pool of literature from over 700 sources. The compilation provides succinct, relevant and timely information about climate challenges, and potential solutions from previously published work in a simplified or a shortened form from around the world. While the focus is on challenges specific to Southeast Asia, solutions may come from, or already have been tested elsewhere; it is for this reason that articles from around the world have been included, to demonstrate that adaptation efforts are already being implemented, and a wide range of approaches and strategies are available. This resource seeks to bridge the gap between what policy makers know, and what research shows can work on the ground to improve adaptation, increase productivity, enhance livelihoods, and contribute to sustainable development affected by climate change. The related poster series can be found here: http://hdl.handle.net/10568/71099

Cryptotephra as a dating and correlation tool in archaeology

A new development in archaeological chronology involves the use of far travelled volcanic ash which may form discrete but invisible layers within a site's stratigraphy. Known as cryptotephra, these horizons can provide isochrons for the precise correlation of archaeological records at single moments in time, removing, or at least significantly reducing, temporal uncertainty within inter-site comparisons. When a tephra can be dated elsewhere, its age can be imported between records, providing an independent check on other dating methods in use and valuable age estimates for difficult to date sequences. The use of cryptotephra layers to date and correlate palaeoenvironmental archives is well established and there exists a wealth of tephra compositional data and regional tephrostratigraphic frameworks from which archaeological cryptotephra studies can benefit greatly. Existing approaches to finding and analysing cryptotephra are easily adapted to archaeological sequences, so long as the often complex nature of archaeological stratigraphies and sediment taphonomy are borne in mind. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd

Synuclein Deficiency Results in Age-Related Respiratory and Cardiovascular Dysfunctions in Mice

Synuclein (α, β, and γ) proteins are highly expressed in presynaptic terminals, and significant data exist supporting their role in regulating neurotransmitter release. Targeting the gene encoding α-synuclein is the basis of many animal models of Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, the physiological role of this family of proteins in not well understood and could be especially relevant as interfering with accumulation of α-synuclein level has therapeutic potential in limiting PD progression. The long-term effects of their removal are unknown and given the complex pathophysiology of PD, could exacerbate other clinical features of the disease, for example dysautonomia. In the present study, we sought to characterize the autonomic phenotypes of mice lacking all synucleins (α, β, and γ; αβγ−/−) in order to better understand the role of synuclein-family proteins in autonomic function. We probed respiratory and cardiovascular reflexes in conscious and anesthetized, young (4 months) and aged (18–20 months) αβγ−/− male mice. Aged mice displayed impaired respiratory responses to both hypoxia and hypercapnia when breathing activities were recorded in conscious animals using whole-body plethysmography. These animals were also found to be hypertensive from conscious blood pressure recordings, to have reduced pressor baroreflex gain under anesthesia, and showed reduced termination of both pressor and depressor reflexes. The present data demonstrate the importance of synuclein in the normal function of respiratory and cardiovascular reflexes during aging

Investment Incentives Under Emission Trading: An Experimental Study

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on incentives to adopt advanced abatement technology under emissions trading. Our experimental design mimics an industry with small asymmetric polluting firms regulated by different schemes of tradable permits. We consider three allocation/auction policies: auctioning off (costly) permits through an ascending clock auction, grandfathering permits with re-allocation through a single-unit double auction, and grandfathering with re-allocation through an ascending clock auction. Our results confirm both dynamic and static theoretical equivalence of auctioning and grandfathering. We nevertheless find that although the market institution used to reallocate permits does not impact the dynamic efficiency from investment, it affects the static efficiency from permit trading

Dietary patterns and changes in body composition in children between 9 and 11 years

Objective: Childhood obesity is rising and dietary intake is a potentially modifiable factor that plays an important role in its development. We aim to investigate the association between dietary patterns, obtained through principal components analysis and gains in fat and lean mass in childhood. Design : Diet diaries at 10 years of age collected from children taking part in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Body composition was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at 9 and 11. Setting: Longitudinal birth cohort. Subjects: 3911 children with complete data. Results: There was an association between the Health Aware (positive loadings on high-fiber bread, and fruits and vegetables; negative loadings on chips, crisps, processed meat, and soft drinks) pattern score and decreased fat mass gain in girls. After adjusting for confounders, an increase of 1 standard deviation (sd) in this score led to an estimated 1.2% decrease in fat mass gain in valid-reporters and 2.1% in under-reporters. A similar decrease was found only in under-reporting boys. There was also an association between the Packed Lunch (high consumption of white bread, sandwich fillings, and snacks) pattern score and decreased fat mass gain (1.1% per sd) in valid-reporting but not under-reporting girls. The main association with lean mass gain was an increase with Packed Lunch pattern score in valid-reporting boys only. Conclusions: There is a small association between dietary patterns and change in fat mass in mid-childhood. Differences between under- and valid-reporters emphasize the need to consider valid-reporters separately in such studies. © 2014 Andrew D. A. C. Smith et al

Applying TADF Emitters in Bioimaging and Sensing—A Novel Approach Using Liposomes for Encapsulation and Cellular Uptake

A new method for facilitating the delivery, uptake and intracellular localisation of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) complexes was developed. First, confinement of TADF complexes in liposomes was demonstrated, which were subsequently used as the delivery vehicle for cellular uptake. Confocal fluorescence microscopy showed TADF complexes subsequently localise in the cytoplasm of HepG2 cells. The procedures developed in this work included the removal of molecular oxygen in the liposome preparation without disrupting the liposome structures. Time-resolved fluorescence microscopy (point scanning) showed initial prompt fluorescence followed by a weak, but detectable, delayed fluorescence component for liposomal TADF internalised in HepG2 cells. By demonstrating that it is possible to deliver un-functionalised and/or unshielded TADF complexes, a sensing function for TADFs, such as molecular oxygen, can be envisaged

Mechanism and function of Vav1 localisation in TCR signalling

The antigen-specific binding of T cells to antigen presenting cells results in recruitment of signalling proteins to microclusters at the cell-cell interface known as the immunological synapse (IS). The Vav1 guanine nucleotide exchange factor plays a critical role in T cell antigen receptor (TCR) signalling, leading to the activation of multiple pathways. We now show that it is recruited to microclusters and to the IS in primary CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Furthermore, we show that this recruitment depends on the SH2 and C-terminal SH3 (SH3B) domains of Vav1, and on phosphotyrosines 112 and 128 of the SLP76 adaptor protein. Biophysical measurements show that Vav1 binds directly to these residues on SLP76 and that efficient binding depends on the SH2 and SH3B domains of Vav1. Finally, we show that the same two domains are critical for the phosphorylation of Vav1 and its signalling function in TCR-induced calcium flux. We propose that Vav1 is recruited to the IS by binding to SLP76 and that this interaction is critical for the transduction of signals leading to calcium flux