Measuring social, economic and environmental sustainability at the enterprise level: a case study of an Australian Utility Corporation’s Sustainability Report

The debate on a sustainable future for Australia has focused enterprises on developing triple bottom line or sustainability reports. Enterprises now commonly provide reports to their stakeholders on sustainability. However it is argued in this paper that shortcomings in current reporting practices are limiting the measurement of sustainability. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the most commonly applied consistent framework for enterprises, recommends the application of indicators that consider the inter-relations between the economy, society and the environment. However, these recommendations are not generally being translated into practice by firms. The environmental aspects of enterprise sustainability reports tend to be privileged over the social and economic components. Indicators of the social and economic impact of an enterprise generally draw upon productivity and human relation measurements rather than measures directly relevant to the impact of enterprise actions on the community. To illustrate these arguments we offer a case study of the Australian Gas Light Company, (AGL), 2004 Sustainability Report, and a critique of the GRI. AGL is a large Australian energy company. We argue that inter-related indicators tend not to be considered within enterprise sustainability reports. It is argued that social and economic externalities of enterprises have an impact on surrounding communities and hence should be measured and reported in conjunction with environmental factors. Moreover, these reports should to be developed in a manner that enables the context of sustainability to be adequately explored

VALUE-ADDED WHEAT PRODUCTS: ANALYSIS OF MARKETS AND COMPETITION

This study evaluated the U.S. domestic market for bakery products and identified market size and growth rate by product segment. The competitive structure and dynamics of the baking industry were analyzed including the geographic scope of the market, product structure, minimum efficient scale, processing consolidation, and entry/exit behavior.bakery, consumption, industry, competitive structure., Marketing,

The implications of (Un)sustainable cities for social reproduction

In Australia, the cities and regions of Sydney, Melbourne, South East Queensland and Adelaide now have long term plans of up to 30 years that set out expected population and urban growth over coming decades. Plans are also in place to manage the process of making urban growth sustainable. These plans have a focus on creating higher dwelling densities and less personal space. Densification is associated with lowering block sizes, expanding house footprints to allotment ratios, urban growth boundaries and transit oriented development but also with the reclamation of public and private space for higher density housing. Urban densification policies are based on an assumption that densification will restrain development on the urban periphery and promote economic activity. These policies have synergies with policies that promote "healthy cities". The latter are premised on the argument that denser cities make for "walkable neighbourhoods", which have health benefits for local residents. However there is contradictory evidence emerging that suggests that increasing dwelling density and removing personal space has implications for public health, especially for children. The residents of Australia"s low density cities have traditionally enjoyed good public health related to open access to public parks, gardens and recreational facilities, which in many cases are maintained free of charge by local government authorities. Densification of Australia"s cities is removing private public space in the form of backyards but also public, community space. Australian governments and planning authorities have justified the removal of public space, including public parks, by referring to the need to make cities more sustainable by increasing dwelling density. The sustainability discourse has been appropriated by Australian governments in such cases to support a neoliberal planning agenda that seems to use the language of sustainable development to support a process that has implications for the health and social reproduction of communities. This process is manifest in changes to land use legislation by state governments that seek to enhance the profits of investors by appropriating public land for private development and socialising the cost of bringing land on to the market. These changes have emerged at a time when there is evidence to support claims that children"s health in Australia is declining. Moreover, while there is evidence to suggest that residents in "walkable communities" have higher physical activity levels there is only limited evidence demonstrating causality. It is notable that these studies rarely involve children. Indeed recent research suggests that it is green space, not residential density that correlates with healthier body weight for children. Our paper illustrates these arguments by offering a review of current urban policy in Australia and a case study of how the sustainability discourse has been deployed in support of the appropriation of public and private urban space in Adelaide, South Australia. The case study is unpacked in relation to research into the relationship between access to green space and the health of children, families and communities. The paper draws conclusions on the implications of urban densification for social reproduction

The measurement of homonegative reactions with physiological and subjective reports

A proposal to present a paper on the physiological measurement of homonegativit

A comparison of the utilization of language arts instructional time for teachers with aides and teachers without aides

This study examined the effect aides have on teacher utilization of language arts instructional time. Eighty observations were made in 40 first-, second-, and third-grade classrooms in North Carolina's central Piedmont section. Teachers in half of these self-contained classrooms had the services of an aide and those in the other half did not. Each class was observed during 90-minute periods for two consecutive days. Both teacher and aide behaviors were coded 60 times each according to specified categories on an observation instrument. Analyses were made using a two-sample t test with a .05 level of significance. Teachers were compared as to how much time they spent engaged in noninstructional, monitorial, and instructional duties; in different aspects of the language arts and reading; in teaching, assessing, assigning, and helping with assignments; and in interacting with students individually, in small groups, and in large groups. Finally, comparisons were made as to how much adult human resource time was directed at students individually, in small groups, and in large groups

Dynamic Evolution Model of Isothermal Voids and Shocks

We explore self-similar hydrodynamic evolution of central voids embedded in an isothermal gas of spherical symmetry under the self-gravity. More specifically, we study voids expanding at constant radial speeds in an isothermal gas and construct all types of possible void solutions without or with shocks in surrounding envelopes. We examine properties of void boundaries and outer envelopes. Voids without shocks are all bounded by overdense shells and either inflows or outflows in the outer envelope may occur. These solutions, referred to as type $\mathcal{X}$ void solutions, are further divided into subtypes $\mathcal{X}_{\rm I}$ and $\mathcal{X}_{\rm II}$ according to their characteristic behaviours across the sonic critical line (SCL). Void solutions with shocks in envelopes are referred to as type $\mathcal{Z}$ voids and can have both dense and quasi-smooth edges. Asymptotically, outflows, breezes, inflows, accretions and static outer envelopes may all surround such type $\mathcal{Z}$ voids. Both cases of constant and varying temperatures across isothermal shock fronts are analyzed; they are referred to as types $\mathcal{Z}_{\rm I}$ and $\mathcal{Z}_{\rm II}$ void shock solutions. We apply the `phase net matching procedure' to construct various self-similar void solutions. We also present analysis on void generation mechanisms and describe several astrophysical applications. By including self-gravity, gas pressure and shocks, our isothermal self-similar void (ISSV) model is adaptable to various astrophysical systems such as planetary nebulae, hot bubbles and superbubbles in the interstellar medium as well as supernova remnants.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figuers, accepted by ApS

Conformal Properties and Baecklund Transform for the Associated Camassa-Holm Equation

Integrable equations exhibit interesting conformal properties and can be written in terms of the so-called conformal invariants. The most basic and important example is the KdV equation and the corresponding Schwarz-KdV equation. Other examples, including the Camassa-Holm equation and the associated Camassa-Holm equation are investigated in this paper. It is shown that the Baecklund transform is related to the conformal properties of these equations. Some particular solutions of the Associated Camassa-Holm Equation are discussed also.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure. Physics Letters A (accepted

Copper(0)-mediated radical polymerisation in a self-generating biphasic system

Herein, we demonstrate the synthesis of well-defined poly(n-alkyl acrylate)s via copper(0)-mediated radical polymerisation in a self-generating biphasic system. During the polymerisation of n-butyl acrylate in DMSO, the polymer phase separates to yield a polymer-rich layer with very low copper content (ICP-MS analysis: 0.016 wt%). The poly(n-butyl acrylate) has been characterized by a range of techniques, including GPC, NMR and MALDI-TOF, to confirm both the controlled character of the polymerisation and the end group fidelity. Moreover, we have successfully chain extended poly(n-butyl acrylate) in this biphasic system several times with n-butyl acrylate to high conversion without intermediate purification steps. A range of other alkyl acrylates have been investigated and the control over the polymerisation is lost as the hydrophobicity of the polymer increases due to the increase in alkyl chain length indicating that it is important for the monomer to be soluble in the polar solvent

MS1, a direct target of MS188, regulates the expression of key sporophytic pollen coat protein genes in Arabidopsis

© 2020 Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Sporophytic pollen coat proteins (sPCPs) derived from the anther tapetum are deposited into pollen wall cavities and function in pollen-stigma interactions, pollen hydration, and environmental protection. In Arabidopsis, 13 highly abundant proteins have been identified in pollen coat, including seven major glycine-rich proteins GRP14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and GRP-oleosin; two caleosin-related family proteins (AT1G23240 and AT1G23250); three lipase proteins EXL4, EXL5 and EXL6, and ATA27/BGLU20. Here, we show that GRP14, 17, 18, 19, and EXL4 and EXL6 fused with green fluorescent protein (GFP) are translated in the tapetum and then accumulate in the anther locule following tapetum degeneration. The expression of these sPCPs is dependent on two essential tapetum transcription factors, MALE STERILE188 (MS188) and MALE STERILITY 1 (MS1). The majority of sPCP genes are up-regulated within 30 h after MS1 induction and could be restored by MS1 expression driven by the MS188 promoter in ms188, indicating that MS1 is sufficient to activate their expression; however, additional MS1 downstream factors appear to be required for high-level sPCP expression. Our ChIP, in vivo transactivation assay, and EMSA data indicate that MS188 directly activates MS1. Together, these results reveal a regulatory cascade whereby outer pollen wall formation is regulated by MS188 followed by synthesis of sPCPs controlled by MS1