How to embed environmental sustainability: The role of dynamic capabilities and managerial approaches in a life cycle management perspective

AbstractLife cycle management (LCM) is a managerial framework to embed a holistic environmental sustainability logic inside organizations. Despite its long tradition, the implementation of LCM is little explored. In this study we observe how sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring capabilities together with managerial approaches to environmental sustainability help organizations embed LCM in their practices. We performed a multinomial logistic regression using a sample of 187 medium and large enterprises. Our findings show that sensing and seizing capabilities and an integrative approach to sustainability help embed LCM in presence of complex environments. Among dynamic capabilities, reconfiguring does not appear to help organizations embed LCM. This study contributes to the literature on LCM and dynamic capabilities

Tear ferning test and pathological effects on ocular surface before and after topical cyclosporine in vernal keratoconjunctivitis patients

Background: Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) is a rare ocular surface inflammatory disease that affects mainly boys in the first decade of life. Clinical observations show that it generally regresses spontaneously with the onset of puberty, but therapeutic measures must be taken before then to control the course of the disease. Purpose: To evaluate the role of the lacrimal mucous component in VKC patients and compare tear ferning test (TFT) modifications, MUC5AC levels in tears, and density of conjunctival goblet cells to clinical characteristics before and after treatment with cyclosporine A (CY) in eye drops. Methods: Forty-seven patients affected by VKC and 30 healthy subjects aged between 3 and 16 years of life were enrolled. All individuals were submitted to complete eye examination and skin prick test (SPT) for the most common allergens. Then, they were subjected to collection of the tears and to impression cytology to evaluate TFT, MUC5AC levels, and conjunctival goblet cell density, before and after treatment with CY in eye drops. Results: Comparing the VKC group vs. the control group at baseline, a significant alteration in the degree of the ferns was found, indicating a pathological condition of the lacrimal mucous layer. In addition, an increased number of goblet cells were observed in the patients. The concentration of lacrimal secretory mucins (MUC5AC) did not show significant differences between the 2 groups. Patients treated with CY have reported improvements of some signs and symptoms of disease activity, including TFT, and a tendency of conjunctival goblet cell density to normalise. Conclusions: The results obtained demonstrated for the first time a significant alteration of the lacrimal mucin component evaluated in the VKC group, and an improvement of the latter after CY therapy