Unveiling ethical product features: The importance of an elaborated information presentation

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd Despite growing consumer awareness of ethical consumption, market sales are not growing accordingly. Because the presentation of appropriate ethical product information may influence consumers to choose ethical products, this paper analyses the requirements necessary for the successful communication of ethical product features. Based on McGuire's (1976) information-processing model, and a review of current literature, the information's comprehensibility, meaningfulness, and credibility are investigated in an online survey of US American citizens (n = 595) for two product categories representing Fast Moving Consumer Goods, and durable goods. A generalized mixed logit model revealed that all three communication factors affect consumers' choices. The more concerns about, or expertise in, organic production and fair trade purchase the consumers expressed, the less important their price sensibility and the more they preferred a comprehensive addendum and credible sources (e.g., government certificate or traceability). The results strongly suggest that advertisers and marketers can customize product communications in order to better engage both the mass market, and ethically oriented consumers

Improved resource efficiency and cascading utilisation of renewable materials

In light of various environmental problems and challenges concerning resource allocation, the utilisation of renewable resources is increasingly important for the efficient use of raw materials. Therefore, cascading utilisation (i.e., the multiple material utilisations of renewable resources prior to their conversion into energy) and approaches that aim to further increase resource efficiency (e.g., the utilisation of by-products) can be considered guiding principles. This paper therefore introduces the Special Volume “Improved Resource Efficiency and Cascading Utilisation of Renewable Materials”. Because both research aspects, resource efficiency and cascading utilisation, belong to several disciplines, the Special Volume adopts an interdisciplinary perspective and presents 16 articles, which can be divided into four subjects: Innovative Materials based on Renewable Resources and their Impact on Sustainability and Resource Efficiency, Quantitative Models for the Integrated Optimisation of Production and Distribution in Networks for Renewable Resources, Information Technology-based Collaboration in Value Generating Networks for Renewable Resources, and Consumer Behaviour towards Eco-friendly Products. The interdisciplinary perspective allows a comprehensive overview of current research on resource efficiency, which is supplemented with 15 book reviews showing the extent to which textbooks of selected disciplines already refer to resource efficiency. This introductory article highlights the relevance of the four subjects, presents summaries of all papers, and discusses future research directions. The overall contribution of the Special Volume is that it bridges the resource efficiency research of selected disciplines and that it presents several approaches for more environmentally sound production and consumption

Tailoring the flow of soft glasses by soft additives

We examine the vitrification and melting of asymmetric star polymers mixtures by combining rheological measurements with mode coupling theory. We identify two types of glassy states, a {\it single} glass, in which the small component is fluid in the glassy matrix of the big one and a {\it double} glass, in which both components are vitrified. Addition of small star polymers leads to melting of {\it both} glasses and the melting curve has a non-monotonic dependence on the star-star size ratio. The phenomenon opens new ways for externally steering the rheological behavior of soft matter systems.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev. Let

Financialization and the monetary circuit : a macro-accounting approach

This paper aims to cross-breed the standard monetary circuit accounting model with elements from the Post-Keynesian literature. The goals are: (i) to analyse the implications of credit-based household consumption fed by capital asset inflation for the soundness of a pure credit-money economy of production; and (ii) to provide a more sophisticated description of the working of modern financial systems than the one grounded in the usual 'bank-based vs. market based' distinction

Hydrolysis of tannic acid catalyzed by immobilized-stabilized derivatives of tannase from Lactobacillus plantarum

A recombinant tannase from Lactobacillus plantarum, overexpressed in Escherichia coli, was purified in a single step by metal chelate affinity chromatography on poorly activated nickel supports. It was possible to obtain 0.9 g of a pure enzyme by using only 20 mL of chromatographic support. The pure enzyme was immobilized and stabilized by multipoint covalent immobilization on highly activated glyoxyl agarose. Derivatives obtained by multipoint and multisubunit immobilization were 500- and 1000-fold more stable than both the soluble enzyme and the one-point-immobilized enzyme in experiments of thermal and cosolvent inactivation, respectively. In addition, up to 70 mg of pure enzyme was immobilized on 1 g of wet support. The hydrolysis of tannic acid was optimized by using the new immobilized tannase derivative. The optimal reaction conditions were 30% diglyme at pH 5.0 and 4 C. Under these conditions, it was possible to obtain 47.5 mM gallic acid from 5 mM tannic acid as substrate. The product was pure as proved by HPLC. On the other hand, the immobilized biocatalyst preserved >95% of its initial activity after 1 month of incubation under the optimal reaction conditionsThis work was supported by Grants AGL2008-01052, AGL-2009-07625, Consolider INGENIO 2010 CSD2007-00063 FUN-C-FOOD(CICYT),RM2008-00002 (INIA), and S-0505/AGR/000153 (CAM). J.A.C. is the recipient of a predoctoral fellowship from the I3P-CSIC Program and FPI-MEC, and G.F.-L. and L.B. are recipients of Ramon y Cajal postdoctoral contracts.Peer reviewe

Биогеохимические исследования урбанизированных ландшафтов восточной Финляндии

Объектом исследования являются урбанизированные ландшафты трех городов Восточной Финляндии г. Юука, г. Оутокумпу, г. Миккели. Цель работы - биогеохимические исследования урбанизированных ландшафтов восточной Финляндии по результатам исследования проб почв, листьев и стеблей черники, лишайника, листьев древесных растений. В процессе исследования проводились обзор и анализ ранее проведенных работ, анализы литературных, нормативных и фондовых источников, анализировались статистических данные и элементный состав комплекса природных сред. В результате исследования была изучена геоэкологическая обстановка урбанизированных территорий Восточной Финляндии Степень внедрения результатов: полученный анализ эколого-геохимической ситуации урбанизированных территорий Финляндии является составной частью комплексного эколого-геохимического мониторинга территорий, проводимого кафедрой ГЭГХ ТПУ. Аналитический материал будет использован в учебном процессе. Область применения: результаты эколого-геохимического мониторинга урбанизированных территорий Финляндии могут быть использованы природоохранными организациями для ориентировочных данных по содержанию химических элементов в почвах и живых объектах городских агломераций.Object of research are urban landscapes of the three cities in the Eastern Finland city of Juuka, in Outokumpu, the city of Mikkeli. Purpose - biogeochemical studies of the urban landscape of Eastern Finland the results of the research of samples of soil, leaves and stems of bilberry, lichen, leaves of woody plants. In the process of investigation the review and analysis of earlier conducted works, literary analyses, regulatory and archival sources, analyzed statistical data and elemental composition of complex natural environments. The study was studied geo-ecological situation in the urbanized territories of Eastern Finland level of implementation of results: the analysis of environmental and geochemical situation in the urbanized territories of Finland is part of an integrated ecological-geochemical monitoring of the territories held by the Department GEGH TPU. Analytical material will be used in the educational process. Application field: the results of ecological-geochemical monitoring in the urbanized territories of Finland can be used by conservation organizations for estimates on the content of chemical elements in the soils and the living facilities of urban agglomerations