An integrative approach to assess environmental and economic sustainability in multi-tier supply chains

Multi-tier supply chain sustainability is paramount to achieve corporate sustainability, due to the significant impacts from organisations beyond the focal firm boundaries and its direct suppliers. However, including environmental considerations within the dominant profit-centric logic of supply chain related decisions is prone to generate sustainability tensions. This work aims to support organisations address tensions between sustainability dimensions by adopting an integrative approach for sustainable supply chain management performance assessment thanks to an innovative eco-intensity based performance assessment method, which achieves a balanced consideration of environmental and economic performance in a weak sustainability perspective. The method, using primary data sourced from actual practice and featuring an indirect multi-tier approach with decentralised responsibilities across organisations, is applied to a case study of a machinery supply chain. The proposed integrative approach can support addressing sustainability tensions in the area of sustainable supply chain management, facilitate sustainable supplier evaluation and identify supply chain hotspots for operational improvement

Risks in circular business models innovation: A cross-industrial case study for composite materials

Circular business models (CBMs) are key enablers to implement circular economy (CE), yet they entail risks, which often discourage organisations. This work aims to explore the main risk factors perceived by the manufacturing industry in transitioning to CBMs to enable the development of appropriate risk management strategies. A cross- industrial multiple-case study research design was used to explore risk factors across seven organisations planning the transition to CBMs for composite-based products and involving three different CBM types—‘Circular Supplies’, ‘Product Life Extension’ and ‘Hybrid’. Results evidenced that risks are multi-disciplinary but are not equally per- ceived across different CBM types. Customers' perceptions of CE products, economic cycle and take-back systems were prevalent across all CBMs. Supply and technological risks were prioritised for ‘Circular Supplies’ CBM, whereas political and regulatory risks for ‘Product Life Extension’ CBM. This research contributes to the CE field by evaluating and prioritising the perceived risk factors in transitioning to CBMs and first disaggregating such risk factors according to CBM types. Critical risk patterns identified across different industries and CBM types enable mitigating actions to be prioritised

Sperm competition intensity affects sperm precedence patterns in a polyandrous gift-giving spider

Abstract Sperm competition drives traits that enhance fertilization success. The amount of sperm transferred relative to competitors is key for attaining paternity. Female reproductive morphology and male mating order may also influence fertilization, however the outcome for sperm precedence under intense sperm competition remains poorly understood. In the polyandrous spider Pisaura mirabilis, males offer nuptial gifts which prolong copulation and increase sperm transfer, factors proposed to alter sperm precedence patterns under strong sperm competition. First, we assessed the degree of female polyandry by genotyping wild broods. A conservative analysis identified up to four sires, with a mean of two sires per brood, consistent with an optimal mating female rate. Then we asked whether intense sperm competition shifts sperm precedence patterns from first male priority, as expected from female morphology, to last male advantage. We varied sexual selection intensity experimentally and determined competitive fertilization outcome by genotyping broods. In double matings, one male monopolised paternity regardless of mating order. A mating order effect with first male priority was revealed when females were mated to four males, however this effect disappeared when females were mated to six males, probably due to increased sperm mixing. The proportion of males that successfully sired offspring drastically decreased with the number of competitors. Longer copulations translated into higher paternity shares independently of mating order, reinforcing the advantage of traits that prolong copulation duration under intense competition, such as the nuptial gift. Sperm competition intensity enhances the impact of competitive sexual traits and imposes multiple effects on paternity

A decision support model for assisting smallholder farmers on bidding to supply to institutional markets

In Brazil, institutional markets emerged as an opportunity for family farmers to distribute their produce and secure and income. However, the lengthy bureaucratic process and relatively high cost associated to the bidding process for such markets determine the challenge faced by family farmers to decide which public calls to subscribe to in order to distribute their products to schools and public institutions through governmental programs as PAA and PNAE. This research proposes a Decision Support System (DSS) based on a mathematical model to help the farmers in the bid/no-bid decision. Based on the individual profitability of the products and the geographical area value concentration criterion, the DSS suggests to the farmers which bids to attend in order to obtain the expected highest profit if the bids are secured

Smallholder farmers challenges to supply institutional markets : a case study

Smallholder farmers face a number of difficulties in accessing the market, whether through local or informal sales, indirect sales through intermediaries or direct integration with the agribusiness. Purchases by the government through institutional markets emerged as a further recent distribution path. Access to institutional markets is an alternative that aims to increase income for smallholder farmers in situations of vulnerability in Brazil. While laws exist to encourage the participation to such markets by smallholder farmers, many of them still cannot access these markets. Therefore, the aim of this article is to identify the challenges faced by family farmers to supply products to the institutional markets. Findings show several factors have an impact to access the institutional markets, such as processes of participation in public calls; processes of production of items and challenges of delivering products

Supporting product distribution decisions of smallholder farmers

Smallholder farmers are usually very constrained in terms of market access, due to, among other factors, the low production volumes and subsequent lack of economies of scale, variable quality, difficulty in planning and unavailability of distribution channels. In some countries, alternative markets have emerged, in order to facilitate smallholder farmers’ access to markets. These can take the form of government feeding programs, that aim at providing an outlet for the smallholder farmer products, giving them priority in supplying public sector organisations. Such a program is the PNAE in Brazil, where local smallholder farmers can supply schools with raw materials for meals. This work aims to support smallholder farmers in distribution related decision-making. More specifically, it aims to allow farmers to maximise the profit from their participation in the government feeding programs through guiding them in the complex supply decision-making and product distribution planning processes. The paper presents the related method developed, as well as the results from a preliminary application of the method in a case study of a rural settlement in Brazil

A data envelopment approach to support the bid/no-bid decision of smallholder farmers on public calls participation

Institutional markets are one of the main sources of income for smallholder farmers in Brazil. Among these markets, the National School Meal Program (PNAE) offers to the farmers the opportunity to supply food for public schools. There may exist distinct PNAE public calls for each school. The participation of the smallholder farmers in these public calls may be limited by their scarce sources. Thus, it became necessary to create a tool to support their decision whether they should or not take part in the completion of attending a public call. The objective of this paper is to propose a tool for priority setting decision. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is applied to rank the public calls (where the public calls are incorporated into the model as Decision-Making Units - DMUs) using the relative efficiency as a ranking criterion, also the methodology proposed to evaluate the bid/no-bid decisions using DEA, applying the Composite Index (CI) tie-breaking method to all DMUs in the context of institutional markets for smallholder farmers, considers all efficient and inefficient DMU as a choice if profitable, which makes it also different from what was done in the literature. The final result shows a priority attending setting to the smallholder farmers, according to the efficiency rank. An empirical application for a group of smallholder farmers in the Brazilian State of Goiás is presented. The main contribution is helping smallholder farmers to make more grounded decisions and the application of DEA model in conjunction with tie-breaking technique of the composite index (Leta et al., 2005) for a bid/no-bid supporting-decision tool in a new context (institutional markets for smallholder farmers) and considering the inefficient DMUs if profitable

ELABORAÇÃO DE BISCOITO TIPO COOKIE SEM GLÚTEN, À BASE DE MILHO, ARROZ E MANDIOCA

O objetivo deste projeto está relacionado com o desenvolvimento de um biscoito nutritivo do tipo cookie a partir de ingredientes como milho, arroz, polvilho de mandioca e grãos, isentos de glúten, substância intolerável para celíacos. O desenvolvimento deste projeto visa a utilização de matérias-primas cultivadas em Santa Catarina de forma a agregar valor e diversificar as opções de aplicação e emprego das mesmas, buscando a inovação com o desenvolvimento de produtos diferenciados e que atendam a consumidores cada vez mais exigentes

Acaricidal and oviposition deterring effects of santalol identified in sandalwood oil against two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae)

Thirty-four plant essential oils were screened for their acaricidal and oviposition deterrent activities against two-spotted spider mite (TSSM), Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae), in the laboratory using a leaf-dip bioassay. From initial trials, sandalwood and common thyme oils were observed to be the most effective against TSSM adult females. Subsequent trials confirmed that only sandalwood oil was significantly active (87.2 ± 2.9% mortality) against TSSM adult females. Sandalwood oil also demonstrated oviposition deterring effects based on a 89.3% reduction of the total number of eggs on leaf disks treated with the oil. GC–MS analysis revealed that the main components of the sandalwood oil were α-santalol (45.8%), β-santalol (20.6%), β-sinensal (9.4%), and epi-β-santalol (3.3%). A mixture of α- and β-santalol (51.0:22.9, respectively) produced significantly higher mortality (85.5 ± 2.9%) and oviposition deterrent effects (94.7% reduction in the number of eggs) than the control. Phytotoxicity was not shown on rose shoots to which a 0.1% solution of sandalwood oil was applied