Importance of social and sustainability reporting in ensuring transparency and disclosure

There are today large amounts of contaminated sediments in the Baltic Sea. These contaminants are the result of many years industrial activity where the contaminants have not been taken care of and just released out in the water. When ports want to dredge in their fairways and harbor areas the contaminated sediments need to be considered since they are a environmental risk. The development in this area has been slow and new techniques have just recently made its way into dredging operations in the Baltic Sea region. As a result of this there are no clear methods for implementing new techniques today. This study aimed to bring light to which factors are important when it comes to which technique is used and what would make the users want to invest in new techniques. In order to find a method for how implementation of new techniques for dredging and management of contaminated sediments this study has looked into which factors are of most importance when choosing technique. It has also aimed to answer which stakeholders have the biggest influence in the choice.This work has been done as a part of the Baltic Sea region project SMOCS together with the company Ecoloop. The result is based on an interview study with 3 ports in Sweden, 3 Swedish contractors, 4 Swedish government authorities as well as the port of Gdynia and port of Kokkola.This study has shown that the most important factors when it comes to which technique is used are the economical and environmental aspects as well as the relation between the two. It seems as though a common goal has not been set when it comes to dredging and how we could treat contaminated sediments. Ports and contractors do not share a common goal with the government authorities. The key stakeholders in the dredging process are the port, the contractors, the government authorities as well as the consultants. However Swedish ports only perform larger dredging operations when there is a need for it. When implementing a new technique focus should therefore be put on the other stakeholders who come in contact with dredging operations more frequently.Det finns idag stora mängder förorenade sediment i Östersjön. Dessa föroreningar är resultatet av flera års industriell verksamhet där föroreningarna inte tagits omhand utan släppts rätt ut i vattnet. Tekniken för att muddra upp och ta hand om dessa muddermassor har under de senaste decennierna inte utvecklats så mycket i Norden. Men utvecklingen har börjat komma igång och i andra delar av Europa och USA har några nya metoder för att hantera sediment börjat användas. Ett problem som vi står inför är dock hur vi ska implementera ny miljövänlig teknik för muddring och hantering Sverige och andra länder kring Östersjön. I detta arbete har problematiken kring implementering av ny teknik studerats genom en intervjustudie med hamnar, entreprenörer och myndigheter främst i Sverige men även några hamnar runt Östersjön. På hamnarna har miljöansvarig för hamnen intervjuats och de myndigheter och entreprenörer som varit med i studien är de som är kopplade till den pilotstudie som görs i Gävle hamn. Arbetet har utförts som en del i projektet SMOCS i samarbete med företaget Ecoloop.För att finna en metod för hur implementering av ny teknik för muddring och hantering av förorenade sediment i hamnområden kan gå till har denna studie undersökt vilka faktorer som är viktiga vid val av teknik, vilka aktörer som är delaktiga i beslutet samt hur detta kan göras för att främja en hållbar utveckling. I dagsläget verkar det inte finnas några klara implementeringsmetoder för ny teknik eftersom utvecklingen inom det här området inte varit så stor de senaste åren. Det är först nu som nya metoder att hantera och muddra förorenade massor kommit in på marknaden i Sverige och Norden.Studien har visat att faktorer som är viktiga vid val av teknik är framförallt ekonomi och miljöpåverkan. Även relationen mellan ekonomin och de miljömässiga fördelar tekniken erbjuder är viktiga att ta ställning till. De aktörer som är viktigast vid valet av teknik är hamnen, entreprenören, myndigheterna samt konsulterna. Däremot muddrar endast de flesta hamnarna i större omfattning när behovet uppstår och därför bör störst vikt läggas vid de övriga aktörerna. Förslag till hur ny teknik kan implementeras i framtiden, som diskuteras i studien, har som mål att öka aktörernas förståelse för olika intressen som finns hos olika aktörer samt att öka förståelsen för begreppet hållbar utveckling

Social accounting and its contribution to society

With the development of the society and its economic system, a need has emerged to develop accounting as well. The increasing role of social accounting, which keeps records of for-profit, non-profit, and governmental organisations, is associated with the complexity of the environment in which businesses and organisations are operating and presenting reports about their social, ethical, and environmental aspects. Organisations are subject to greater transparency, and many stakeholders are interested in and concerned about the performance of organisations within the context that is not reflected, to a satisfactory extent, in traditional accounting. Traditional accounting ensures reporting to the shareholders or the state, whereas social accounting provides information to all stakeholders, including the public. Social accounting includes all kinds of accounts that go beyond the economic and for all the different labels under which it appears. This paper deals with the main issues and tools of corporate social responsibility, which is a very important prerequisite for organisations in order to introduce the principles of social accounting.With the development of the society and its economic system, a need has emerged to develop accounting as well. The increasing role of social accounting, which keeps records of for-profit, non-profit, and governmental organisations, is associated with the complexity of the environment in which businesses and organisations are operating and presenting reports about their social, ethical, and environmental aspects. Organisations are subject to greater transparency, and many stakeholders are interested in and concerned about the performance of organisations within the context that is not reflected, to a satisfactory extent, in traditional accounting. Traditional accounting ensures reporting to the shareholders or the state, whereas social accounting provides information to all stakeholders, including the public. Social accounting includes all kinds of accounts that go beyond the economic and for all the different labels under which it appears. This paper deals with the main issues and tools of corporate social responsibility, which is a very important prerequisite for organisations in order to introduce the principles of social accounting

Severe Clostridium difficile infection with extremely high leucocytosis complicated by a concomitant bloodstream infection caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae after osteomyelitis surgery: A case report

Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the staff of the Hospital of Traumatology and Orthopaedics for support in writing this article. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s) Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Introduction: Clostridium difficile is one of the most common healthcare-associated infections. Pseudomembranous colitis is a serious complication of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) after septic surgery and antibacterial therapy. A sudden white blood cell (WBC) count increase and extremely high leucocytosis may be a predictor of a poor outcome. Presentation of case: A 77 years old male was hospitalised because of lower leg osteomyelitis and was operated. He received antibacterial treatment with Cefazolin for three days and then developed a high WBC count. The course of the disease was fulminant, with a rapid increase in the WBC count up to 132,000/mm3 and a septic shock, and required cardiovascular and ventilatory support. The patient was started on intravenous Metronidazole (500 mg every eight hours) and oral Vancomycin (500 mg every six hours). The patient's condition gradually improved over a period of six days. Then a hyperthermia above 39 degrees Celsius, hypotension and painful abdominal bloating developed, and the WBC count peaked to 186,000/mm3. The blood cultures were positive for Klebsiella pneumoniae. The patient died. Discussion: In our case, we describe a community-onset, healthcare-facility-associated, severe CDI complicated by a blood stream infection. The administration of oral Vancomycin, which is highly active against the intestinal flora, could have been responsible for the persistence and overgrowth of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Conclusions: Severe CDIs after orthopaedic surgery and antibacterial treatment complicated by the development of nosocomial infection significantly worsen the prognosis of the disease. Careful consideration of antibacterial therapy and early symptom recognition may help prevent catastrophic events.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Intramolecular C-H⋯O hydrogen bonding in 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives

The diastereotopy of the methylene protons at positions 2 and 6 in 1,4-dihydropiridine derivatives with various substituents has been investigated. NMR spectroscopy and quantum chemistry calculations show that the CH⋯O intramolecular hydrogen bond is one of the factors amplifying the chemical shift differences in the 1H-NMR spectra.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Synthesis and comparative evaluation of novel cationic amphiphile C12-Man-Q as an efficient DNA delivery agent in vitro

Funding Information: This research was funded by the National Research programme “Biomedicine for Public Health” (BIOMEDICINE) (2014–2017): Project: No 3 “Development of novel anticancer drugs and immunotherapeutic approaches”. We are indebted to Dr.habil. V.Ose for transmission electron microscopy analysis. Funding Information: Funding: This research was funded by the National Research programme “Biomedicine for Public Health” (BIOMEDICINE) (2014–2017): Project: No 3 “Development of novel anticancer drugs and immunotherapeutic approaches”. Publisher Copyright: © 2018 by the authors.New amphiphilic 1,4-DHP derivative C12-Man-Q with remoted cationic moieties at positions 2 and 6 was synthesised to study DNA delivery activity. The results were compared with data obtained for cationic 1,4-DHP derivative D19, which is known to be the most efficient one among the previously tested 1,4-DHP amphiphiles. We analysed the effects of C12-Man-Q concentration, complexation media, and complex/cell contact time on the gene delivery effectiveness and cell viability. Transmission electron microscopy data confirms that lipoplexes formed by the compound C12-Man-Q were quite uniform, vesicular-like structures with sizes of about 50 nm, and lipoplexes produced by compound D19 were of irregular shapes, varied in size in the range of 25–80 nm. Additionally, confocal microscopy results revealed that both amphiphiles effectively delivered green fluorescent protein expression plasmid into BHK-21 cells and produced a fluorescent signal with satisfactory efficiency, although compound C12-Man-Q was more cytotoxic to the BHK-21 cells with an increase of concentration. It can be concluded that optimal conditions for C12-Man-Q lipoplexes delivery in BHK-21 cells were the serum free media without 0.15 M NaCl, at an N/P ratio of 0.9. Compound D19 showed higher transfection efficiency to transfect BHK-21 and Cos-7 cell lines, when transfecting active proliferating cells. Although D19 was not able to transfect all studied cell lines we propose that it could be cell type specific. The compound C12-Man-Q showed modest delivery activity in all used cell lines, and higher activity was obtained in the case of H2-35 and B16 cells. The transfection efficiency in cell lines MCF-7, HeLa, and Huh-7 appears to be comparable to the reference compound D19 and minimal in the HepG2 cell line.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Growth Modulation of Human Cells in Vitro by Mild Oxidative Stress and 1,4-Dihydropyridine Derivative Antioxidants

Reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation products are not only cytotoxic but may also modulate signal transduction in cells. Accordingly, antioxidants may be considered as modifiers of cellular redox signaling. Therefore, the effects of two novel synthetic antioxidants, analogues of 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives, cerebrocrast and Z41-74 were analysed in vitro on human osteosarcoma cell line HOS, the growth of which can be modulated by lipid peroxidation. The cells were pretreated with either cerebrocrast or Z41-74 and afterwards exposed to mild, copper induced lipid peroxidation or to 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE), the end product of lipid peroxidation. The results obtained have shown that both antioxidants exert growth modulating effects interfering with the lipid peroxidation. Namely, cells treated with antioxidants showed increased metabolic rate and cell growth, thereby attenuating the effects of lipid peroxidation. Such biomodulating effects of cerebrocrast and Z41-74 resembled growth modulating effects of HNE, suggesting that the antioxidants could eventually promote cellular adaptation to oxidative stress interacting with redox signaling and hydroxynonenal HNE-signal transduction pathways. This may be of particular relevance for better understanding the beneficial role of hydroxynonenal HNE in cell growth control. Therefore, cerebrocrast and Z41-74 could be convenient to study further oxidative homeostasis involving lipid peroxidation

Dihydropyridine Derivatives as Cell Growth Modulators In Vitro

The effects of eleven 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives (DHPs) used alone or together with prooxidant anticancer drug doxorubicin were examined on two cancer (HOS, HeLa) and two nonmalignant cell lines (HMEC, L929). Their effects on the cell growth (3H-thymidine incorporation) were compared with their antiradical activities (DPPH assay), using well-known DHP antioxidant diludine as a reference. Thus, tested DHPs belong to three groups: (1) antioxidant diludine; (2) derivatives with pyridinium moieties at position 4 of the 1,4-DHP ring; (3) DHPs containing cationic methylene onium (pyridinium, trialkylammonium) moieties at positions 2 and 6 of the 1,4-DHP ring. Diludine and DHPs of group 3 exerted antiradical activities, unlike compounds of group 2. However, novel DHPs had cell type and concentration dependent effects on 3H-thymidine incorporation, while diludine did not. Hence, IB-32 (group 2) suppressed the growth of HOS and HeLa, enhancing growth of L929 cells, while K-2-11 (group 3) enhanced growth of every cell line tested, even in the presence of doxorubicin. Therefore, growth regulating and antiradical activity principles of novel DHPs should be further studied to find if DHPs of group 2 could selectively suppress cancer growth and if those of group 3 promote wound healing