Sustainable procurement strategies for competitive advantage: An empirical study

Procurement plays a key role in sustainability as policies and practices need to extend beyond organisations' boundaries to incorporate their whole supply chains. There is, however, a paucity of empirical research on sustainable forms of procurement initiatives currently being implemented in the UK construction sector to improve competitiveness - which is the core driver of this paper. In order to achieve this aim, a mixed research methodological approach was adopted to collect and analyse data. The findings are based primarily on quantitative data obtained from 53 completed postal questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with 17 professionals from 12 UK construction organisations. As revealed by this study, sustainable procurement is becoming increasingly important in the UK construction sector. The paper concludes that the process of integrating sustainable procurement initiatives into existing business models is often a complex issue. Therefore, there is an urgent need to explore the drivers and impediments associated with the successful integration of sustainable procurement initiatives into existing construction business models. It is also suggested that there is a need for cross-sector collaboration to capture and share best and worst practices relating to sustainable procurement strategies

The Consensus from the Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) Conference 2017.

On March 24 and 25, 2017 researchers and clinicians from around the world met at Temple University in Philadelphia to discuss the current knowledge of Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) and its relationship to human disease. The conference was held because of shared concern that MAP is a zoonotic bacterium that poses a threat not only to animal health but also human health. In order to further study this problem, the conferees discussed ways to improve MAP diagnostic tests and discussed potential future anti-MAP clinical trials. The conference proceedings may be viewed on the www.Humanpara.org website. A summary of the salient work in this field is followed by recommendations from a majority of the conferees

Polymorphisms of TP53 codon 72 with breast carcinoma risk: evidence from 12226 cases and 10782 controls

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previously, TP53 codon 72 polymorphisms have been implicated as risk factors for various cancers. A number of studies have conducted on the association of TP53 codon 72 polymorphisms with susceptibility to breast carcinoma and have yielded inconclusive results. The aim of the present study was to derive a more precise estimation of the relationship.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a search in the Medline, EMBASE, OVID, Sciencedirect, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) without a language limitation, covering all papers published up to Jan 2009. The associated literature was acquired through deliberate searching and selected based on the established inclusion criteria for publications.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of seventeen case-control studies, including 12226 cases and 10782 controls, met the included criteria and thus were selected. Ultimately, the relevant data were extracted and further analyzed using systematic meta-analyses. Overall, no associations of TP53 codon 72 polymorphisms with breast carcinoma were observed (for Arg/Arg vs Pro/Pro: OR = 1.20; 95%CI = 0.96–1.50; for dominant model: OR = 1.12; 95%CI = 0.96–1.32; for recessive model: OR = 1.13; 95%CI = 0.98–1.31). In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, statistically similar results were obtained when the data were stratified as Asians, Caucasians and Africans.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Collectively, the results of the present study suggest that <it>TP53 codon 72 </it>polymorphisms might not be a low-penetrant risk factor for developing breast carcinoma.</p

Umweltfoederalismus - Einheit und Einheitlichkeit in Deutschland und Europa

Available from Bibliothek des Instituts fuer Weltwirtschaft, ZBW, Duesternbrook Weg 120, D-24105 Kiel W 189 (94.402) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Deutschland auf dem Weg zu einer nachhaltigen Altersvorsorge? Endbericht zum Vorhaben 'Altersvermoegensgesetz und Berichtspflicht: Situationsanalyse zur Umsetzung der Kriterien'

Available from TIB Hannover: RN 8908(2000,525) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEBundesministerium fuer Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit, Bonn (Germany)DEGerman

Nachhaltige Wasserwirtschaft in Deutschland (Identifizierung gegenlaeufiger Trends und Handlungsempfehlungen) Endbericht

Das Vorhaben hatte drei Ziele: zum ersten eine Konkretisierung des Leitbildes einer nachhaltigen Wasserwirtschaft in Deutschland, zum zweiten eine Analyse der gegenwaertigen Situation und Trends in der Wasserwirtschaft und drittens die Entwicklung von Handlungsoptionen als Antwort auf die im Rahmen der Analyse aus der Sicht einer nachhaltigen Wasserwirtschaft aufgedeckten Defizite. Im Verlaufe des Vorhabens wurde demzufolge eine Definition einer nachhaltigen Wasserwirtschaft erarbeitet und diese durch spezielle Prinzipien weiter praezisiert. Ferner wurden in den Bereichen Gewaessermorphologie, Wassermengenwirtschaft, Gewaesserguete und wasserwirtschaftliche Institutionen insgesamt ueber 40 Teilaspekte der Wasserwirtschaft genauer analysiert und sowohl im Hinblick auf die aktuelle Situation als auch im Hinblick auf vergangene und zu erwartende Entwicklungen beschrieben. Fuer die im Rahmen dieser Analyse festgestellten Defizite wurde anschliessend eine Anzahl von Handlungsoptionen ermittelt. Diese richten sich nicht nur an die wasserwirtschaftlichen Akteure selber sondern beziehen auch die Verursacherbereiche der Beeintraechtigungen mit ein. Einige der Handlungsoptionen wurden schliesslich in potentiellen Schwerpunktprogrammen zusammengefasst. (orig.)The project aimed at three goals: firstly to specify the concept (Leitbild) of sustainable water management in Germany, secondly to analyse the current situation and trends in water management and to identify deficits from the viewpoint of sustainability, and thirdly to develop options for actions to be taken in response to the deficits. In the course of the project a definition of sustainable water management was elaborated and further specified by several principles. In the areas of morphology of waters, quantitative water management, water quality, and institutional aspects of water management over 40 special subjects of water management were analysed and described with respect to the current situation and past and future trends. A number of options for actions were identified in order to address the deficits which had been revealed in the analysis. The options are directed not only to the different actors in water management, but also to the target sectors responsible for adverse effects on the waters. In a further step some of the options have been clustered to create targetted action programmes. (orig.)Available from TIB Hannover: RN 8908(98-043) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEUmweltbundesamt, Berlin (Germany); Bundesministerium fuer Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit, Bonn (Germany)DEGerman

Umweltschutzfinanzierung in Mittel- und Osteuropa (MOE) und den Neuen Unabhaengigen Staaten (NUS). Teilbericht 2: Evaluationssbericht zur OECD EAP Task Force-Methodik fuer Umweltfinanzierungsstrategien

SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: RN 8908(2000,271,2) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekBundesministerium fuer Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit, Bonn (Germany)DEGerman

Environmental technology transfer: Development of a work programme on the subject of 'mega-cities' for the Asia-Europe Environmental Technology Centre in Thailand. 'Megacities' fuer das geplante asiatisch-europaeische Technologiezentrum in Bangkok (AEETC). T. 1 und 2 Final report vol. 1 and 2

SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: RN 8908(2000,218,1): RN 8908(2000,218,2) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekBundesministerium fuer Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit, Bonn (Germany)DEGerman