Green Marketing and its Role in Firm’s Strategy

Tässä kandidaatintutkielmassa tutkitaan vihreän markkinoinnin strategista roolia ja sen tuomaa lisäarvoa yritykselle. Tutkimuksessa selvitetään, mitä vihreä markkinointi on, mistä syistä yritykset harjoittavat sitä ja tuoko se lisäarvoa yritykselle. Case-yrityksinä tutkielmassa ovat UPM-Raflatac ja Lappeenrannan Energia Oy.

Weed control and green ear yield in maize

The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of weeding frequency on cultivar Centralmex green corn yield. Two experiments were conducted in Mossoró-RN (Brazil), with the use of sprinkler irrigation. A random block design with four replicates was used. It was observed that the total number and weight (TW) of unhusked green ears, the number and weight of marketable unhusked ears and the number and weight of marketable husked ears were reduced under no weeding treatment. The number timing of weedings did not influence green corn yield, except for one weeding at 60 DAP, which was equivalent to the "no weeding" treatment, for TW. When maize is marketed considering the total number of green ears, higher net income is obtained when one weeding is carried out 45 days after planting.

Growth and yield of corn grain and green ear in competition with weeds

Studies on plant growth are interesting because they provide explanations for the factors that influence yield in various crops. The objective of this work was to evaluate growth and yield in corn cultivar AG1051, when in competition with weeds. Cultivar AG 1051 was submitted to two groups of treatments: weed control, and sampling periods for dry biomass evaluation. The weed control treatments consisted of hoeing (two hoeings performed at 20 and 40 days after sowing) and no hoeing. Sampling periods consisted of collecting the above-ground part and roots of corn every fifteen days, until 105 days after sowing (DAS); the first sampling was performed 30 DAS. A completely randomized block design with ten replicates was used. For the characteristics evaluated in a single season, statistical analyses were carried out as a random block experiment. For the characteristics evaluated in several periods, statistical analyses were carried out as random blocks with split-plots (weed control assigned to plots). Fourteen weed species, unevenly distributed throughout the experimental area, were the most important. The growth observed for the above-ground part and root system of corn was 30% smaller in the non-hoed plots, compared to the hoed plots. Lack of weed control increased dry matter of the above-ground part of the weeds and reduced the number of unhusked and husked marketable green ears by 23% and 49%, respectively. Grain yield reduction caused by lack of weed control reached 38%.

Green ear yield and grain yield of maize cultivars in competition with weeds

The reduction in herbicide use is one of the greatest interests for modern agriculture and several alternatives are being investigated with this objective, including the adoption of cultivars that suppress weeds. The objective of this study was to verify if maize cultivars develop differently, in competition with weeds, to produce green ears and grain. Randomized complete block design was used, with split-plots and five replications. Cultivars DKB 390, DKB 466, DKB 350, AG 7000, AG 7575 and Master, were evaluated in the plots, without weeding and two weedings (at 22 and 41 days after sowing) in sub plots. Twenty-one species were identified in the experimental area, the most frequent being Gramineae (Poaceae), Euphorbiaceae, Leguminosae (Fabaceae) and Convolvulaceae species. There was no difference in the dry biomass above-ground part of the weeds in the plots of the evaluated cultivars. The cultivars behaved similarly in treatments with or without hoeing, except for plant height and ear height evaluations. Without hoeing, plant height increased in cultivar DKB 390, while plant height and ear height decreased in cultivar AG 7575. In the other cultivars, these traits did not change under weed control. The presence of weeds decreased the values of all traits employed to assess green corn yield, with the exception of the total number of green ears and grain yield.

S-metolachlor efficacy on the control of Brachiaria decumbens, Digitaria horizontalis, and Panicum maximum in mechanically green harvested sugarcane

The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of S-metolachlor applied in pre-emergence conditions for the control of Brachiaria decumbens, Digitaria horizontalis, and Panicum maximum in sugar cane mechanically harvested without previous burning of the crop (green harvest) with the crop residue either left or not on the soil surface. The experiments were established in the field according to a randomized complete block design with four repetitions in a 7 x 2 split-plot scheme. In the plots, five herbicide treatments were studied (S-metolachlor at 1.44, 1.92, and 2.40 kg ha-1, clomazone at 1.20 kg ha-1, and isoxaflutole at 0.188 kg ha-1), and two control treatments with no herbicide application. In the subplots, the presence or absence of sugar cane crop residue on the soil surface was evaluated. S-metolachlor efficacy was not hampered by either 14 or 20 t ha-1 of sugar cane crop residue on the soil surface. When sugar cane crop residue was covering the soil surface, S-metolachlor at a rate of 1.44 kg ha-1 resulted in weed control similar at their larger rates, where as without the presence of crop residue, S-metolachlor controlled B. decumbens, D. horizontalis, and P. maximum at the rates of 1.92, 1.44, and 1.92 kg ha-1, respectively. The herbicides clomazone and isoxaflutole were effective for the studied species, independently of the crop residue covering the soil surface. S-metolachlor caused no visible injury symptoms to the sugar cane plant. Clomazone and isoxaflutole caused visible injuries to the sugar cane plant. None of the herbicides negatively affected the number of viable culms m² or the culm height and diameter.

Effects of straw decomposition degree on leaching and weed control efficacy of tebuthiuron and hexazinone in green sugarcane harvesting

Green sugarcane harvesting may promote great changes in the dynamics of herbicides in the environment. Our goal was to evaluate the influence of straw decomposition degree on leaching and weed (Ipomoea grandifolia) control efficacy by (14C) tebuthiuron and hexazinone. The presence of straw on the soil surface affected leaching, mainly for hexazinone (leaching reduced from 37 to 5% of the applied amount in the presence of straw). Overall, tebuthiuron showed more efficient control of Ipomoea than hexazinone. The straw decomposition degree affected only hexazinone efficacy that was lowest for the least decomposed straw. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effects of sugarcane straw on herbicides dissipation, particularly on volatilization and photolysis, to better predict their efficacy and environmental fate.

Grey literature, green open access: the BLDS Digital Library

Presentation at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014

Growth of red and green strains of the tropical agarophyte Gracilaria cornea J. Agardh (Gracilariales, Rhodophyta) in laboratory

Gracilaria cornea J. Agardh is an important agarophyte occurring in the western Atlantic Ocean. Green colour individuals of G. cornea were found in a natural population, growing next to red individuals, which were more common. Due to the importance of colour strains in genetic and intraspecific variability studies, this work aimed to characterize the red and green strains evaluating different nutritional and light conditions. Red and green gametophytes were cultivated at 14:10 light: dark cycle, with alternating aeration periods of 30 min. Two different enriched solutions were tested: von Stosch (VSS) at concentrations reduced to 12.5% and 25%; and Provasoli (PES) at concentrations reduced to 25% and 50%, and 100%. Red and green gametophytes were cultivated at the irradiance of 45 mumol photons m-2 s-1. In another experiment utilizing PES 100%, two sources of light (Osram 40 W daylight fluorescent tubes and Sylvania Designer 3,500 tubes) were tested at irradiances of 90 and 180 mumol photons m-2 s-1. Growth rates (GR) were evaluated for five weeks. Gametophytes developed few branches and reproductive structures were not induced. Differences were not observed between GR of red and green strains in the conditions tested. GR were higher in VSS 12.5% (8.4% day-1) than in 25% (7.1% day-1), suggesting an adaptation of the species to low nutrient concentrations. GR were higher at 180 (9.0% day-1) than at 90 mumol photons m-2 s-1 (6.3% day-1). These results suggest that G. cornea should be cultivated in laboratory at high irradiances and low nutrient concentrations. These data will be useful in future genetic and physiological studies of the species.

Talousvesilaitoksen saostusvaiheen tehostaminen esihapetuksella – Case Suomen Sokeri Oy:n vedenkäsittely

Diplomityö tehtiin Suomen Sokeri Oy:n vesilaitokselle Vihreän Kemian laboratoriossa. Prosessia tarkasteltiin saostuksen osalta ja tavoitteena oli sen kehittäminen esihapetusmenetelmän tai saostuskemikaalin vaihdon avulla. Tarkastelu tehtiin orgaanisen, kiintoaineksen ja metallien poiston, desinfiointitehon sekä ympäristöystävällisyyden osalta. Potentiaalisia esihapetusmenetelmiä (kaliumpermanganaatti, vetyperoksidi, valokemiallinen, H2O2/UV, valokatalyyttinen, TiO2/UV, H2O2/ultraääni sekä esihapetus peretikkahapolla) tarkasteltiin eri pitoisuuksilla ja tehoilla laboratoriomittakaavassa jar-testin avulla. Saostustehoa testattiin alumiinikloridilla ja ferrisulfaatilla. Raakaveden laadun muutoksia eri vaiheissa seurattiin laboratorioanalyysein. Hapetusmenetelmien desinfiointiteho, vaikutukset syanobakteereihin ja -toksiineihin sekä reaktioissa syntyvät sivutuotteet kartoitettiin teorian perusteella. Työn tuloksien perusteella kaliumpermanganatti, vetyperoksidi erityisesti kehittyneenä hapetustekniikkana sekä valokatalyyttinen menetelmä tehostivat vedenkäsittelyä, mutta koska TiO2/UV- tai ultraäänihapetukselle ei ole vielä olemassa kaupallista sovellusta laitosmittakaavassa niin suositeltavat menetelmät ovat KMnO4- ja H2O2(/UV)-hapetukset jatkotutkimussuositukset huomioiden. Peretikkahappo ei tämän tutkimuksen perusteella vaikuttanut suositeltavalta hapetusmenetelmältä, mutta sen sijaan teorian perusteella potentiaaliselta desinfektioaineelta myös talousvedenpuhdistukseen. Opinnäytetyötä eri hapetusmenetelmien osalta talousvedelle ei ole aiemmin tehty eikä peretikkahappohapetuksesta ole laajalti aiempaa tutkimustietoa. Kokeellisen osuuden tulokset antavat uutta tietoa menetelmien soveltuvuudesta vastaaville laitoksille.

Green algal interactions with physicochemical parameters of some manmade ponds in Zaria, northern Nigeria

Green algal species and their association with physicochemical parameters in some manmade ponds in Zaria, Nigeria were studied from November 2005 to August 2006. Phytoplankton and water samples were collected, preserved and analyzed using standard methods. A total of 27 green algal species divided into 16 families were recorded. Shannon diversity indices ranged from 1.75 to 2.39 in all ponds, dominance index from 0.14 to 0.23 and species evenness 0.56 to 0.64. Closterium sp. and Rhizoclonium hookeri Kuetz. were positively associated with the concentration of Fe, however they were negatively correlated (sensitive) to alkalinity, total dissolved solids and electrical conductivity. Stichococcus bacillaris Naegeli, Staurastrum rotula Nordst. and Sphaeroplea sp. had significant positive relationship with biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), Mn, and Mo levels in the water. Pseudouvella americana (Snow) Wille. and Scenedesmus quadricauda (Turp.) de Bréb. showed a close positive association with alkalinity but were sensitive to Fe, BOD, Mn and Mo. The species reported here showed closed association with physicochemical factors in these ponds.

AQUAREL CONCEPT Aquatic resources for green energy realization

The AQUAREL project studied the availability and optional utilization methods for fish processing side streams and other aquatic biomaterial in the Republic of Karelia. Additionally processing aquatic biomaterial with manure and sewage sludge was studied. Based on the results, the most feasible option today is to process fish side streams to fish oil and dewatered oil-free residue and to use them for fish or animal feed production. However, it is necessary to highlight, that changes in e.g. economic environment, energy prices and demand may require re-evaluating the results and conclusions made in the project. Producing fish oil from fish processing side streams is an easy and relatively simple production process generating a valuable end product. The functionality of the process was confirmed in a pilot conducted in the project. The oil and solids are separated from the heated fish waste based on gravity. The fish oil separating on top of the separator unit is removed. Fish oil can as such be utilized for heating purposes, fish meal or animal feed production, but it can also be further processed to biodiesel. However, due to currently moderate energy prices in Russia, biodiesel production is not economically profitable. Even if the fish oil production process is not complicated, the operative management of small-scale fish oil production unit requires dedicated resources and separate facilities especially to meet hygiene requirements. Managing the side streams is not a core business for fish farmers. Efficient and economically profitable fish oil production requires a centralized production unit with bigger processing capacity. One fish processing unit needs to be designed to manage side streams collected from several fish farms. The optimum location for the processing unit is in the middle of the fish farms. Based on the transportation cost analysis in the Republic of Karelia, it is not economically efficient to transport bio-wastes for more than 100 km since the transportation costs start increasing substantially. Another issue to be considered is that collection of side streams, including the dead fish, from the fish farms should be organized on a daily basis in order to eliminate the need for storing the side streams at the farms. Based on AQUAREL project studies there are different public funding sources available for supporting and enabling profitable and environmentally sustainable utilization, research or development of fish processing side streams and other aquatic biomaterial. Different funding programmes can be utilized by companies, research organizations, authorities and non-governmental organizations.

Using green fluorescent protein to understand the mechanisms of G-protein-coupled receptor regulation

G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) activation is followed rapidly by adaptive changes that serve to diminish the responsiveness of a cell to further stimulation. This process, termed desensitization, is the consequence of receptor phosphorylation, arrestin binding, sequestration and down-regulation. GPCR phosphorylation is initiated within seconds to minutes of receptor activation and is mediated by both second messenger-dependent protein kinases and receptor-specific G protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRKs). Desensitization in response to GRK-mediated phosphorylation involves the binding of arrestin proteins that serve to sterically uncouple the receptor from its G protein. GPCR sequestration, the endocytosis of receptors to endosomes, not only contributes to the temporal desensitization of GPCRs, but plays a critical role in GPCR resensitization. GPCR down-regulation, a loss of the total cellular complement of receptors, is the consequence of both increased lysosomal degradation and decreased mRNA synthesis of GPCRs. While each of these agonist-mediated desensitization processes are initiated within a temporally dissociable time frame, recent data suggest that they are intimately related to one another. The use of green fluorescent protein from the jellyfish Aqueora victoria as an epitope tag with intrinsic fluorescence has facilitated our understanding of the relative relationship between GRK phosphorylation, arrestin binding, receptor sequestration and down-regulation.

Green supplier selection via Multiple Criteria Data Envelopment Analysis

An appropriate supplier selection and its profound effects on increasing the competitive advantage of companies has been widely discussed in supply chain management (SCM) literature. By raising environmental awareness among companies and industries they attach more importance to sustainable and green activities in selection procedures of raw material providers. The current thesis benefits from data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique to evaluate the relative efficiency of suppliers in the presence of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission for green supplier selection. We incorporate the pollution of suppliers as an undesirable output into DEA. However, to do so, two conventional DEA model problems arise: the lack of the discrimination power among decision making units (DMUs) and flexibility of the inputs and outputs weights. To overcome these limitations, we use multiple criteria DEA (MCDEA) as one alternative. By applying MCDEA the number of suppliers which are identified as efficient will be decreased and will lead to a better ranking and selection of the suppliers. Besides, in order to compare the performance of the suppliers with an ideal supplier, a “virtual” best practice supplier is introduced. The presence of the ideal virtual supplier will also increase the discrimination power of the model for a better ranking of the suppliers. Therefore, a new MCDEA model is proposed to simultaneously handle undesirable outputs and virtual DMU. The developed model is applied for green supplier selection problem. A numerical example illustrates the applicability of the proposed model.

Antinociceptive activity of sulfated carbohydrates from the red algae Bryothamnion seaforthii (Turner) Kütz. and B. triquetrum (S.G. Gmel.) M. Howe

We report the antinociceptive activity, determined by the writhing, formalin and hot-plate tests in mice, of crude (F0/60), lectin and carbohydrate fractions isolated by ammonium sulfate precipitation (0 to 60%) from Bryothamnion seaforthii and B. triquetrum, species of red algae. Not only fraction F0/60 but also lectins from both species significantly inhibited acetic acid-induced abdominal contractions after intraperitoneal or oral administrations. In the formalin test, lectins (1 and 5 mg/kg, ip, and 5 to 20 mg/kg, po) inhibited the 1st and 2nd phases (5 and 20 min, respectively), but the effect occurred predominantly on the 2nd phase. The effects of the lectins were totally or partially reversed by naloxone (2 mg/kg, sc) in the 1st and 2nd phases, respectively. Experiments performed with lectins in the absence and presence of avidin (1 mg/kg, ip) and D-mannose (1 mg/kg, ip) showed that avidin did not interfere with the effect of B. seaforthii lectin but partially reversed the effect of B. triquetrum lectin. D-Mannose completely reversed the effects of both species. F0/60 fractions from both algae significantly increased the latency time in response to thermal stimuli, and naloxone reversed antinociception, indicating the involvement of the opioid system in both the peripheral and central effects of the fractions. In the writhing test, the carbohydrate fractions were the most active, inhibiting the contractions by 71 and 79% (B. triquetrum) and by 46 and 69% (B. seaforthii) at doses of 1 and 5 mg/kg, ip, respectively. Sulfated carbohydrate fractions of B. seaforthii and B. triquetrum, containing only about 5% protein as contaminants, are probably responsible for the antinociceptive effects of these red algae.