1,934 research outputs found
Rating the Raters: Evaluating how ESG Rating Agencies Integrate Sustainability Principles
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) rating agencies, acting as relevant financial market actors, should take a stand on working towards achieving a more sustainable development. In this context, the objective of this paper is, on the one hand, to understand how criteria used by ESG rating agencies in their assessment processes have evolved over the last ten years and, on the other hand, to analyze whether ESG rating agencies are contributing to fostering sustainable development by the inclusion of sustainability principles into their assessment processes and practices according to the ESG criteria. This research is based on a comparative descriptive analysis of the public information provided by the most representative ESG rating and information provider agencies in the financial market in two periods: 2008 and 2018. The findings show that ESG rating agencies have integrated new criteria into their assessment models to measure corporate performance more accurately and robustly in order to respond to new global challenges. However, a deep analysis of the criteria also shows that ESG rating agencies do not fully integrate sustainability principles into the corporate sustainability assessment process
Unexpected Perinatal Loss versus Sids-a Common Neuropathologic Entity
Objective: To evaluate the involvement of alterations of the central autonomic nervous system, particularly of the brainstem and cerebellum, in a wide set of victims of sudden and unexplained perinatal and infant death
The usefulness of chelation therapy for the remission of symptoms caused by previous treatment with mercury-containing pharmaceuticals: a case report
Introduction: A great deal of data regarding the toxicology of mercury has been recently reported. Although the most common human exposures to mercury are currently mercury vapour from amalgam tooth fillings, methylmercury from seafood and ethylmercury as a preservative in vaccines, in the past mercury compounds have been used in the treatment of syphilis. Case presentation: Mercury intoxication was found in a 67 year-old Italian man affected by neurological symptoms of apparently unknown origin. The patient developed syphilis forty years ago and then underwent therapy with mercurials to treat his chronic bacterial infection. We treated the patient with disodium edetate chelation therapy. Six months after the beginning of the therapy, the patient's neurological symptoms began to decrease, and were completely cured after two years of therapy. Conclusion: This case supports the use of chelation therapy with disodium edetate to remove damages caused by mercury intoxication
Sustainability rating agencies as a driver of socially responsible investment
El conjunto de actores de los mercados financieros a nivel mundial están demandando
de forma creciente que la información financiera de las empresas se vea integrada con
información de carácter ambiental, social y de gobierno corporativo. Las agencias de calificación de la sostenibilidad surgen en los mercados como oferentes de dicha información,
desarrollado sus propias herramientas de medición y evaluación de los criterios financieros,
ambientales y de gobernanza (FASG).
El objetivo de este artículo es poner de manifiesto la función impulsora y modeladora
que están realizando estas agencias en el análisis de la sostenibilidad corporativa, sus metodologías de evaluación y los criterios que utilizan, constatando que están potenciando el desarrollo de la inversión socialmente responsable (o inversión sostenible, o inversión con criterios ASG), y de las finanzas sostenibles, tanto por ofertar bases de datos de criterios FASG,
como por la elaboración de índices bursátiles de sostenibilidad que sirven de benchmarking
para los fondos de inversión con criterios de sostenibilidad. Sin embargo, por ahora, este
impulso no está impactando en la innovación hacia modelos de negocios sostenibles.The financial market actors worldwide are increasingly demanding that the financial
information of companies should be integrated with information of an environmental,
social and corporate governance nature. The sustainability rating agencies emerge in the
markets as providers of such information, developing their own tools for measuring and
evaluating the financial, environmental and governance criteria (FESG). The objective of this paper is to highlight the function that these sustainability agencies
are fulfilling, their evaluation methodologies and the criteria they use, confirming that they
are promoting the development of socially responsible investment (or sustainable investment, or ESG investment). Both for their offer of databases of FESG criteria, and for the
elaboration of sustainable indexes that serve as benchmarking for investment funds with
sustainability criteria. However, they are not influencing innovation towards sustainable
business models
Sustainable supply chain management in a global context: a consistency analysis in the textile industry between environmental management practices at company level and sectoral and global environmental challenges.
In a global context, it is crucial to measure and report the corporate sustainability impacts taking into account what is happening along the whole supply chains. The objective of this study is to analyze whether environmental measurement and reporting practices, currently developed by companies under a global supply chain context, are aligned with global environmental challenges and the environmental hotspots at the sectoral level. To tackle this objective, this study has been focused on the textile sector, due to the relevance of its environmental impacts. A research was conducted based on the analysis of global environmental challenges: 1) at company level, on the measurement and reporting of specific environmental indicators connected with the impact categories of the European Organization Environmental Footprint (OEF); and 2) on the analysis of textile industry environmental hotspots, through the technical tool SimaPro that allows their quantification and identification along the life cycle phases using different scenarios. The results show a consistency between global environmental challenges and company environmental disclosure; however, a disconnection between the specific environmental indicators reported by textile companies and the main hotspots of the sector are observed. This implies that companies could be managing environmental issues related to global environmental concerns but ignoring those critical environmental issues truly relevant from a technical point of view, according to the nature of their activity. The paper argues that is not only necessary to consider the corporate awareness regarding global environmental challenges, but also to address the real environmental hotspots at the sectoral level. This paper represents a contribution in the discussion about what sustainability management implies along the supply chains, emphasizing the need to advance in a consistent and science-based integration of global environmental challenges, environmental hotspots at the sectoral level and environmental management practices at company level. The results obtained help global chain actors and other organizations to address this challenge
Inhibition of chemokine expression in rat inflamed paws by systemic use of the antihyperalgesic oxidized ATP
BACKGROUND: We previously showed that local use of periodate oxidized ATP (oATP, a selective inhibitor of P2X7 receptors for ATP) in rat paw treated with Freund's adjuvant induced a significant reduction of hyperalgesia Herein we investigate the role of oATP, in the rat paws inflamed by carrageenan, which mimics acute inflammation in humans. RESULTS: Local, oral or intravenous administration of a single dose of oATP significantly reduced thermal hyperalgesia in hind paws of rats for 24 hours, and such effect was greater than that induced by diclofenac or indomethacin. Following oATP treatment, the expression of the pro-inflammatory chemokines interferon-gamma-inducible protein-10 (IP-10), mon ocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) within the inflamed tissues markedly decreased on vessels and infiltrated cells. In parallel, the immunohistochemical findings showed an impairment, with respect to the untreated rats, in P2X7 expression, mainly on nerves and vessels close to the site of inflammation. Finally, oATP treatment significantly reduced the presence of infiltrating inflammatory macrophages in the paw tissue. CONCLUSION: Taken together these results clearly show that oATP reduces carrageenan-induced inflammation in rats
Biosafety in the Use of Radiation: Biological Effects Comparison Between Laser Radiation, Intense Pulsed Light and Infrared and Ultraviolet Lamps in an Experimental Model in Chicken Embryos
The multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach of the CISAO of the University of Turin for development cooperation
Materiality Analysis for CSR Reporting in Spanish SMEs
Most corporate social responsibility (CSR) standards have not been designed
to be implemented in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Given
that 99% of Spanish companies are SMEs, this study aims to propose a
selection of basic CSR material issues that, because of their usefulness and
significance, should be adapted to Spanish SMEs and their stakeholders.
This study provides a CSR model for SMEs that includes the most important
social, environmental, and corporate governance issues. This model, which
is based on expert knowledge, is useful for integrating sustainability in the
management of SMEs and enhancing the management of stakeholders
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