Ensuring sustainability beyond first-tier supplier : a case study off a fashion company

Historiskt sett har fokus inom modeföretags supply chain (SC) legat på kostnadseffektivitet och resultat, men i och med en globaliserad miljö har andra viktiga affärsområden blivit intressanta. Studier visar på att det finns interna och externa barriärer som påverkar arbetet med hållbara supply chains där det finns en problematik kring säkerställandet av hållbarhet bland leverantörer och underleverantörer. Konkurrensfördelar, leverantörers engagemang och komplexa nätverk är tre externa barriärer som behöver överbryggas för att kunna förbättra relationer till leverantörer och underleverantörer, i syfte att förbättra möjligheten att säkerställa hållbarhet inom modebranschen. Syftet med studien är att förklara hur små och medelstora företag i modebranschen säkerställer underleverantörers hållbarhet i supply chain. För att uppfylla syftet har en fallstudie gjorts på företaget Houdini Sportswear AB, där val av fall baserats på kriterierna: i) ett medelstort företag som arbetar aktivt med hållbarhetsfrågor samt ii) företaget vill utveckla arbetet kring säkerställandet av hållbarhet bland deras underleverantörer. Studiens teori har arbetats fram utifrån en litteraturgenomgång. Empirin presenteras genom bakgrundsempiri och primärempiri, där bakgrundsempirin är insamlad från litteraturgenomgången samt två intervjuer med syfte att spegla modebranschen. I primärempirin presenteras fallföretaget Houdini utifrån två intervjuer. Analysen görs i kontexten externa barriärer inom sustainable supply chain management, där de tre barriärerna konkurrensfördelar, leverantörers engagemang samt komplexa nätverk studeras. Utifrån en kvalitativ studie analyseras och diskuteras hur säkerställande av hållbarhet bland underleverantörer sker. Houdini vill säkerställa leverantörers hållbarhet i deras supply chain. För att göra det använder sig Houdini av uppförandekoder (vidare i studien nämnt som Code of Conducts - CoC), men även genom att utveckla goda relationer till sina leverantörer. Studien visar att det är svårare att säkerställa hållbarhet bland underleverantörer då det finns en problematik kring relationer. Tidigare forskning visar på att endast kontroll, utan samarbete med leverantörer och underleverantörer, är verkningslös. Det finns ett behov av samarbeten mellan små och medelstora köpare i modebranschen då detta skulle förbättra relationerna till underleverantörer, och på så sätt förbättra och förenkla säkerställandet av hållbarhet i supply chain. Detta gäller såväl för små och medelstora modeföretag generellt som för Houdini.Exposure to non-sustainable activities often put firms in negative light, therefore there is of importance to ensure supplier sustainability. Furthermore there is a lot of literature on first-tier supplier sustainability in multinational companies but not as much on second-tier suppliers sustainability in medium sized companies. There are many examples of firms that have failed to ensure second-tier supplier sustainability, which has damaged their brand. The purpose of this study is to explain how small and medium sized fashion companies ensure second-tier supplier sustainability within their supply chain. This thesis is conducted with an abductive approach. Collecting data through semi-structured interviews and literature. A case study was conducted on a Swedish fashion company. Collected data were analyzed through an narrative analysis. Based on previous literature and a theoretical framework, data was categorized and an outline for empirical findings and analysis created. Good relationships is a postulate for ensuring second-tier supplier sustainability within the supply chain. Companies must balance between assessment and control to maintain good relationships. Conclusively, that is a major challenge for companies with the ambition to be sustainable. In order to achieve second-tier supplier sustainability in medium sized companies collaboration is necessary. Collaborations between small and medium sized companies will increase their impact potential when managing suppliers

Storylines and imaginaries of wastewater reuse and desalination - The rise of local discourses on the Swedish islands of Öland and Gotland

Increased pressure on existing freshwater resources has given rise to interest in new raw water sources. Wastewater reuse and desalination are two alternatives that are frequently compared and discussed in the literature. In this study, local discourses in the form of storylines and imaginaries were identified on the Swedish islands of Öland and Gotland. These local storylines and imaginaries were then compared to those found in the literature on wastewater reuse and desalination; in the process, overlaps and variations were identified. On Gotland, a controversy over desalination was observed where arguments were raised for and against 'natural' (nature-based and therefore 'good') solutions and 'unnatural' or engineered solutions (desalination). Such a controversy was not observed on Öland. The controversy on Gotland arose out of competing imaginaries of the future. Such discourses can affect the transitions of water systems. Understanding local discourses may thus be crucial to our understanding of the larger transitions underway in the water sector and may figure importantly in the acceptance of new water sources

FuSSI-Net: Fusion of Spatio-temporal Skeletons for Intention Prediction Network

Pedestrian intention recognition is very important to develop robust and safe autonomous driving (AD) and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) functionalities for urban driving. In this work, we develop an end-to-end pedestrian intention framework that performs well on day- and night- time scenarios. Our framework relies on objection detection bounding boxes combined with skeletal features of human pose. We study early, late, and combined (early and late) fusion mechanisms to exploit the skeletal features and reduce false positives as well to improve the intention prediction performance. The early fusion mechanism results in AP of 0.89 and precision/recall of 0.79/0.89 for pedestrian intention classification. Furthermore, we propose three new metrics to properly evaluate the pedestrian intention systems. Under these new evaluation metrics for the intention prediction, the proposed end-to-end network offers accurate pedestrian intention up to half a second ahead of the actual risky maneuver.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, 5 tables, IEEE Asilomar SS

Differential role of MAX2 and strigolactones in pathogen, ozone, and stomatal responses

Strigolactones are a group of phytohormones that control developmental processes including shoot branching and various plant-environment interactions in plants. We previously showed that the strigolactone perception mutant more axillary branches 2 (max2) has increased susceptibility to plant pathogenic bacteria. Here we show that both strigolactone biosynthesis (max3 and max4) and perception mutants (max2 and dwarf14) are significantly more sensitive to Pseudomonas syringae DC3000. Moreover, in response to P. syringae infection, high levels of SA accumulated in max2 and this mutant was ozone sensitive. Further analysis of gene expression revealed no major role for strigolactone in regulation of defense gene expression. In contrast, guard cell function was clearly impaired in max2 and depending on the assay used, also in max3, max4, and d14 mutants. We analyzed stomatal responses to stimuli that cause stomatal closure. While the response to abscisic acid (ABA) was not impaired in any of the mutants, the response to darkness and high CO2 was impaired in max2 and d14-1 mutants, and to CO2 also in strigolactone synthesis (max3, max4) mutants. To position the role of MAX2 in the guard cell signaling network, max2 was crossed with mutants defective in ABA biosynthesis or signaling. This revealed that MAX2 acts in a signaling pathway that functions in parallel to the guard cell ABA signaling pathway. We propose that the impaired defense responses of max2 are related to higher stomatal conductance that allows increased entry of bacteria or air pollutants like ozone. Furthermore, as MAX2 appears to act in a specific branch of guard cell signaling (related to CO2 signaling), this protein could be one of the components that allow guard cells to distinguish between different environmental conditions.Peer reviewe

Potassium, chlorine, and sulfur in ash, particles, deposits, and corrosion during wood combustion in a circulating fluidized-bed boiler

The effect of the addition of chlorine and/or sulfur to the fuel on fly ash composition, deposit formation, and superheater corrosion has been studied during biomass combustion in a circulating fluidized-bed boiler. The chlorine (HCl (aq)) and sulfur (SO2 (g)) were added in proportions of relevance for the potassium chemistry. The composition of the bottom and the fly ashes was analyzed. Gas and particle measurements were performed downstream of the cyclone before the convection pass and the flue gas composition was recorded in the stack with a series of standard instruments and an FTIR analyzer. At the position downstream of the cyclone, a deposit probe was situated, simulating a superheater tube. Deposits on the probe and initial corrosion were examined. It is concluded that addition of sulfur and chlorine increases the formation of submicron particles leading to deposition of potassium sulfate and chloride. The results compare well with earlier work based on laboratory-scale experiments concerning effects of chlorine and sulfur on potassium chemistry

COX-2 inhibition by diclofenac is associated with decreased apoptosis and lesion area after experimental focal penetrating traumatic brain injury in rats

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is followed by a secondary inflammation in the brain. The inflammatory response includes prostanoid synthesis by the inducible enzyme cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). Inhibition of COX-2 is associated with improved functional outcome in experimental TBI models, although central nervous system-specific effects are not fully understood. Animal studies report better outcomes in females than males. The exact mechanisms for this gender dichotomy remain unknown. In an initial study we reported increased COX-2 expression in male rats, compared to female, following experimental TBI. It is possible that COX-2 induction is directly associated with increased cell death after TBI. Therefore, we designed a sequential study to investigate the blocking of COX-2 specifically, using the established COX-2 inhibitor diclofenac. Male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing between 250 and 350 g were exposed to focal penetrating TBI and randomly selected for diclofenac treatment (5 ?g intralesionally, immediately following TBI) (n = 8), controls (n = 8), sham operation (n = 8), and normal (no manipulation) (n = 4). After 24 h, brains were removed, fresh frozen, cut into 14?m coronal sections and subjected to COX-2 immunofluorescence, Fluoro Jade, TUNEL, and lesion area analyses. Diclofenac treatment decreased TUNEL staining indicative of apoptosis with a mean change of 54% (p 0.05) and lesion area with a mean change of 55% (p 0.005). Neuronal degeneration measured by Fluoro Jade and COX-2 protein expression levels were not affected. In conclusion, COX-2 inhibition by diclofenac was associated with decreased apoptosis and lesion area after focal penetrating TBI and may be of interest for further studies of clinical applications

Cost-effective building renovation strategies at the district level combining energy efficiency & renewables – investigation based on parametric calculations with generic districts

Informe generado en el marco del Energy in Buildings and Communities Programme de la International Energy AgencyThis report aims to study cost-effective strategies to combine energy efficiency measures and renewable energy use in building renovation at the district level and to investigate factors influencing the choice of a cost-effective strategy. This is done through generic district assessments, where hypothetical, “generic” districts are generated to model typical conditions in various European countries. For the generic districts, relevant variables were defined to carry out parametric assessments, applying and testing the methodology developed in IEA EBC Annex 75. The generic districts were generated and selected based on the typical conditions in each country, and the hypothetical nature of the assessment allowed for studying different starting conditions and renovation measures. It is, in particular, investigated to what extent there are synergies and trade-offs for combining energy efficiency measures and renewable energy measure

Comparison of Leishmania typing results obtained from 16 European clinical laboratories in 2014.

Leishmaniasis is endemic in southern Europe, and in other European countries cases are diagnosed in travellers who have visited affected areas both within the continent and beyond. Prompt and accurate diagnosis poses a challenge in clinical practice in Europe. Different methods exist for identification of the infecting Leishmania species. Sixteen clinical laboratories in 10 European countries, plus Israel and Turkey, conducted a study to assess their genotyping performance. DNA from 21 promastigote cultures of 13 species was analysed blindly by the routinely used typing method. Five different molecular targets were used, which were analysed with PCR-based methods. Different levels of identification were achieved, and either the Leishmania subgenus, species complex, or actual species were reported. The overall error rate of strains placed in the wrong complex or species was 8.5%. Various reasons for incorrect typing were identified. The study shows there is considerable room for improvement and standardisation of Leishmania typing. The use of well validated standard operating procedures is recommended, covering testing, interpretation, and reporting guidelines. Application of the internal transcribed spacer 1 of the rDNA array should be restricted to Old World samples, while the heat-shock protein 70 gene and the mini-exon can be applied globally