Green procurement in the private sector: a state of the art review between 1996 and 2013

NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of Cleaner Production. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 85, 15 December 2014, Pages 122–133. DOI 10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.08.106The purpose of this paper is to identify the main themes of Green Procurement (GP) in the private sector through a literature review of papers published between 1996 and 2013 and to develop some future research directions. GP research has garnered interest from academics and industry alike. This is demonstrated by the increasing number of academic papers published in recent years. This literature review builds on the three themes in the adoption of GP identified from the literature: 1) the motivation and drivers for the implementation of GP; 2) barriers to the implementation of GP; 3) the performance impacts of the adoption of GP. Given that there are distinctive features of the private sector, compared to the public sector, this analysis focuses on GP in the private sector. The approach to GP holds important implications for managers, by directing limited resources towards projects which intersect both environmental performance and economic performance. The article discusses interesting findings, develops a conceptual framework of GP and suggests a number of directions for future research

Response of "Glacier-Runoff" system in a typical monsoonal temperate glacier region, Hailuogou Basin in Mt. Gongga of China, to global warming

International audienceThe method of correlation analysis and trend analysis were used in this research in order to confirm the response of "glacier-runoff" system to global warming. Hailuogou glacier had retreated by 1871.8 m over the past 76 years, Hailuogou No. 2 glacier had also retreated by 1100 m. Glaciers retreats are contrary to the climatic warming trend in China and the Northern Hemisphere. Glaciers in Hailuogou basin were in the loss with a fluctuating manner since 1950s, and accumulative value of mass balance is ?10 825.5 mm water equivalent with an annual mean value of ?240.6 mm. The inverse correlation is highly significant between mass balance variation and climatic fluctuation of China and the Northern Hemisphere after 1950s. Glacier ablation is intensive with a ratio of 7.86 m yr?1. A steady rise tendency toward glaciers runoff has been observed since 1980s, and the runoff rise is mainly responsible for melt water in Hailuogou basin. It is noticeable that climatic warming not only strengthened ablation extent and enlarged ablation area, but also prolonged ablation period. Global warming is the main cause of glacier retreat, mass loss and runoff rise in Hailuogou basin

Tunable and absolute electromagnetic vacuum in two-dimensional photonic-band-gap Based on multiferroic materials

When multiferroic terbium manganite (TbMnO₃) crystal cylinders are periodically arranged in a square lattice, the resulting two-dimensional (2D) system exhibits photonic band gaps (PBGs). The absolute PBG originating from the Mie resonance is modulated from closed to open by applying an external static magnetic field, which is attributed to the electromagnon depression of the dielectric constant by the rearrangement of antiferromagnetic order. Tunable electromagnetic band structure may be realized by controlling the magnetic transition of manganese spins in TbMnO₃.The authors are grateful for financial support from the Outstanding Foundation of NJUST, the NJUST Research Funding (No. 2010ZDJH06), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11004106, 50672034, 50832002, and 50901042), and the State Key Program for Basic Research of China (Grant Nos. 2009CB623303 and 2009CB929501)

Relative Resistance of HLA-B to Downregulation by Naturally Occurring HIV-1 Nef Sequences

ABSTRACT HIV-1 Nef binds to the cytoplasmic region of HLA-A and HLA-B and downregulates these molecules from the surface of virus-infected cells, thus evading immune detection by CD8+ T cells. Polymorphic residues within the HLA cytoplasmic region may affect Nef’s downregulation activity. However, the effects of HLA polymorphisms on recognition by primary Nef isolates remain elusive, as do the specific Nef regions responsible for downregulation of HLA-A versus HLA-B. Here, we examined 46 Nef clones isolated from chronically HIV-1 subtype B-infected subjects for their ability to downregulate various HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-C molecules on the surface of virus-infected cells. Overall, HLA-B exhibited greater resistance to Nef-mediated downregulation than HLA-A, regardless of the cell type examined. As expected, no Nef clone downregulated HLA-C. Importantly, the differential abilities of patient-derived Nef clones to downregulate HLA-A and HLA-B correlated inversely with the sensitivities of HIV-infected target cells to recognition by effector cells expressing an HIV-1 Gag-specific T cell receptor. Nef codon function analysis implicated amino acid variation at position 202 (Nef-202) in differentially affecting the ability to downregulate HLA-A and HLA-B, an observation that was subsequently confirmed by experiments using Nef mutants constructed by site-directed mutagenesis. The in silico and mutagenesis analyses further suggested that Nef-202 may interact with the C-terminal Cys-Lys-Val residues of HLA-A, which are absent in HLA-B. Taken together, the results show that natural polymorphisms within Nef modulate its interaction with natural polymorphisms in the HLA cytoplasmic tails, thereby affecting the efficiency of HLA downregulation and consequent recognition by HIV-specific T cells. These results thus extend our understanding of this complex pathway of retroviral immune evasion

Disrupted Cerebellar Connectivity With the Central Executive Network and the Default-Mode Network in Unmedicated Bipolar II Disorder

Objective: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a common psychiatric disease. Although structural and functional abnormalities of the cerebellum in BD patients have been reported by recent neuroimaging studies, the cerebellar-cerebral functional connectivity (FC) has not yet been examined. The present study aims to investigate the FC between the cerebellum and cerebrum, particularly the central executive network (CEN) and the default-mode network (DMN) in bipolar II disorder (BD II).Methods: Ninety-four patients with unmedicated BD II depression and 100 healthy controls (HCs) underwent the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Seed-based connectivity analyses were performed using cerebellar seeds previously identified as being involved in the CEN (bilateral Crus Ia) and DMN (bilateral Crus Ib).Results: Compared with HCs, BD II depression patients appeared decreased FC in the right Crus Ia-left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and -left anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), the right Crus Ib-left medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), -left middle temporal gyrus (MTG), and -left inferior temporal gyrus (ITG). No altered FC between the left Crus Ia or Crus Ib and the cerebral regions was found.Conclusions: Patients with BD II depression showed disrupted FC between the cerebellum and the CEN (mainly in the left dlPFC and ACC) and DMN (mainly in the left mPFC and temporal lobe), suggesting the significant role of the cerebellum-CEN and -DMN connectivity in the pathogenesis of BD

Polysaccharide Extracted from Laminaria japonica

This study aimed to determine the effect of topically applied Laminaria polysaccharide (LP) on skin aging. We applied ointment containing LP (10, 25, and 50 μg/g) or vitamin E (10 μg/g) to the dorsal skin of aging mice for 12 months and young control mice for 4 weeks. Electron microscopy analysis of skin samples revealed that LP increased dermal thickness and skin collagen content. Tissue inhibitor of metalloprotease- (TIMP-) 1 expression was upregulated while that of matrix metalloproteinase- (MMP-) 1 was downregulated in skin tissue of LP-treated as compared to untreated aging mice. Additionally, phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 was higher in aging skin than in young skin, while LP treatment suppressed phospho-JNK expression. LP application also enhanced the expression of antioxidative enzymes in skin tissue, causing a decrease in malondialdehyde levels and increases in superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase levels relative to those in untreated aging mice. These results indicate that LP inhibits MMP-1 expression by preventing oxidative stress and JNK phosphorylation, thereby delaying skin collagen breakdown during aging

A pH-Responsive Cluster Metal-Organic Framework Nanoparticle for Enhanced Tumor Accumulation and Antitumor Effect

As a result of the deficient tumor-specific antigens, potential off-target effect, and influence of protein corona, metal–organic framework nanoparticles have inadequate accumulation in tumor tissues, limiting their therapeutic effects. In this work, a pH-responsive linker (L) is prepared by covalently modifying oleylamine (OA) with 3-(bromomethyl)-4-methyl-2,5-furandione (MMfu) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). Then, the L is embedded into a solid lipid nanoshell to coat apilimod (Ap)-loaded zeolitic imidazolate framework (Ap-ZIF) to form Ap-ZIF@SLN#L. Under the tumor microenvironment, the hydrophilic PEG and MMfu are removed, exposing the hydrophobic OA on Ap-ZIF@SLN#L, increasing their uptake in cancer cells and accumulation in the tumor. The ZIF@SLN#L nanoparticle induces reactive oxygen species (ROS). Ap released from Ap-ZIF@SLN#L significantly promotes intracellular ROS and lactate dehydrogenase generation. Ap-ZIF@SLN#L inhibits tumor growth, increases the survival rate in mice, activates the tumor microenvironment, and improves the infiltration of macrophages and T cells in the tumor, as demonstrated in two different tumor-bearing mice after injections with Ap-ZIF@SLN#TL. Furthermore, mice show normal tissue structure of the main organs and the normal serum level in alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase after treatment with the nanoparticles. Overall, this pH-responsive targeting strategy improves nanoparticle accumulation in tumors with enhanced therapeutic effects.</p