Determinants of green supply chain implementation in the food and beverage sector

Using a grounded theory approach, this paper extracts emerging concepts in the implementation of green supply chain management from case data of New Zealand food and beverage (F&B) companies. In search of factors that may lead to theory-building, the study relates case studies in fruit, juice, and dairy product companies through in-depth interviews with ranking general and line managers. We uncover the outline of a theoretical framework focusing on determinants of GSCM behaviour. These include strategic and operational planning; management structure, systems, and decision-making; management of people and company culture; and relationships with supply-chain members.

Impact of medical Qigong on quality of life, fatigue, mood and inflammation in cancer patients : a randomized controlled trial

Background: Substantial numbers of cancer patients use complementary medicine therapies, even without a supportive evidence base. This study aimed to evaluate in a randomized controlled trial, the use of Medical Qigong (MQ) compared with usual care to improve the quality of life (QOL) of cancer patients. Patients and methods: One hundred and sixty-two patients with a range of cancers were recruited. QOL and fatigue were measured by Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy—General and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy—Fatigue, respectively, and mood status by Profile of Mood State. The inflammatory marker serum C-reactive protein (CRP) was monitored serially. Results: Regression analysis indicated that the MQ group significantly improved overall QOL (t144 = −5.761, P < 0.001), fatigue (t153 = −5.621, P < 0.001), mood disturbance (t122 =2.346, P = 0.021) and inflammation (CRP) (t99 = 2.042, P < 0.044) compared with usual care after controlling for baseline variables. Conclusions: This study indicates that MQ can improve cancer patients’ overall QOL and mood status and reduce specific side-effects of treatment. It may also produce physical benefits in the long term through reduced inflammation.

Nurses and personal attendants' diabetes knowledge : in regional public residential care

Aim: Identify staff knowledge about diabetes medicines and organisational factors that influence safe medicines use in two large Australian regional public RACs that comply with national accreditation standards.

Background: Diabetes management is complicated in residential aged care facilities (RAC). Managing medicines is complex, especially in older people. Little is known about diabetes-specific medicine knowledge of various care staff (registered nurses (RN), enrolled nurses (EN) and patient care attendants (PCA) working in RAC.

Methods: A triangulation of methods was used to collect the data: anonymous self-complete questionnaire (ADKnowl) staff interviews to clarify practice issues that could affect safe medicine use, and a case file audit to identify medicine-related data. Questionnaires were distributed to all RNs, ENs and PCAs in the two services via nursing management (N=540). The ADKnowl was supplemented with additional questions and vignettes derived from actual case notes in each RAC to assess translation of knowledge into practice. Only medicine related data are reported.

Results: Sixty-eight people returned completed questionnaires (12.5% response rate). Knowledge deficits were identified in administering oral hypoglycaemic agents and insulin, their action and potential adverse events. Most ENs and PCAs did not know why HbA1c was measured. Almost half the RNs and ENs and 80% of PCAs did not know how diabetes comorbidities affect medicine choices. RN achieved higher overall average knowledge scores,74.3%, compared to ENs and PCA, 49%. The interviews suggest lack of time, unclear communication processes, inadequate knowledge about medications and resident behaviour compromises optimal medicine administration. Twenty case files audits were undertaken in each RAC and revealed residents were taking on average nine medicines.

Conclusion: Staff involved in caring for residents with diabetes had suboptimal general and medicine-specific diabetes knowledge to deliver optimal care. System issues and unpredictable resident behaviours made medicine management difficult and compromised safety.

Effects of high salt concentration and residue on copper and aluminum corrosion

Traditional researches on metal corrosion under salt solutions deposit conditions are usually carried out by visual, electron microscopic observations and simple electrochemical measurement via a traditional one-piece electrode. These techniques have difficulties in measuring localized corrosion that frequently occur in inhomogeneous media. This paper reports the results from the experiments using specially shaped coupons and a relatively new method of measuring heterogeneous electrochemical processes, namely, the wire beam electrode(WBE). Preliminary results from copper and aluminum corrosion in highly concentrated sodium chloride solutions with and without solid deposits show that the method is useful in simulating and studying corrosion especially localized corrosion in pipelines.

Localized corrosion and inhibition studies using the wire beam electrode in conjunction with the electrochemical noise analysis and the scanning reference electrode techniques

Several new technical developments have been made based on the combined use of the wire beam electrode (WBE), electrochemical noise analysis (ENA) and the scanning reference electrode technique (SRET). These have included: (i) The WBE-R n method- the combined use of the WBE and the noise resistance (Rn) to map the rates and patterns of uniform or localized corrosion; (ii) The WBE-Noise Signatures method- the combined use of the WBE and the noise signature to detect the origination and propagation of localized corrosion; and (iii) The WBE-SRET method- the combined use of the WBE and SRET to investigate localized corrosion from both the metallic and electrolyte phases of a corroding metal surface. This paper presents a brief review on these novel methods and their applications for detecting general and localized corrosion, for mapping the rates of corrosion, and for studying corrosion inhibitors.

Food Product Information: Trusted Sources and Delivery Media

Consumers receive food-related information from various sources and strive to make informed food choices regarding their health, lifestyle and belief. To be effective and reliable, the information consumers receive needs to be from a credible source and delivered to them in a way they trust. The aim of this study was to investigate the sources and media channels of that information consumer trust. An online and hardcopy survey of 298 consumers currently living in Australia was carried out. Many consumers believe that the source of food product information is important (87%). As a source of general and nutritional information, Health Professionals, Scientists and Government sources are the most trusted sources, with at least 80% of participants confident of the information coming from these sources. Retailer advertising and social media are the least trusted sources with just 29% and 11%, respectively, confident of these sources. As a delivery medium, printed food labels (67%) and printed brochures or fact sheets (56%) remain the most trusted delivery media compared with electronic media, such as mobile phone or the Internet.

Polities and poetics: a ‘place’ for reconciliation

The thesis analysed the ways in which Australian literature written between 1990 - 2010 has informed concepts of Indigenous and non-Indigenous reconciliation. There is a ‘place’ for reconciliation in postcolonial Australia, and literature is one such ‘place’, with its ability to construct, incorporate and promote postcolonial race relations through reimaginings of history, place, bodies and the sacred.

Genetic research in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities : continuing the conversation

Genetics is at the forefront of medical research, but it is rarely used in Indigenous health research projects. This discussion paper is the outcome of the first ever national discussion of the conduct of genetic research in Indigenous communities in Australia convened by the Lowitja Institute in 2010. It reviews the ethical issues relevant to genetic research in an Australian Indigenous context; existing guidelines for genetic research in indigenous communities internationally; and literature on genetic literacy in Indigenous contexts. Finally, the discussion paper presents a summary of the productive and challenging conversations at the round table.

Mediatization and education: a sociological account

This chapter presents an account of the mediatization of education policy through a focus on the development and uptake of the knowledge economy discourse in national education policy and research settings. During the late 20th and early part of the 21st century, Australia, like other nation states around the globe, came to adopt the knowledge economy discourse as a kind of meta-policy that would help connect a variety of statistical indicators and provide direction for a number of policy areas, including education, science, and research funding. In Australia the adoption of a knowledge economy discourse was preceded by coverage from specialized sections of the quality print media, discussed broadly as a debate about the social contract that was afforded to fields charged with developing and producing national capacities for knowledge production. Such a debate mirrored similar claims by Michael Gibbons in the late 1990s, where he argued for a new social contract between science and society. Given the media coverage surrounding the uptake of the knowledge economy discourse and the promotion of the concept by the OECD, this chapter presents an account of the emergence of the knowledge economy discourse through a focus on the mediatization of the concept. The broad argument presented in this account is that what could be called “mediatization effects”, related to the promotion and adoption of policy concepts, are variable, and reach the broader public in inconsistent, time-bound, and sporadic patterns. In order to understand mediatization effects in respect of policy, the paper draws on a broad Bourdieuian informed conceptual framework to understand different kinds of fields, their logics of practice, and importantly here, cross-field effects. Specifically, the focus is on those cross-field effects related to the impact of practices within both national and global fields of journalism on national and global fields of education policy. While the case is an Australian one, the account explores general and more broadly applicable ways to understand links between the globalization and the mediatization of policy.

Atypical antipsychotic agents; peas in a pod or chalk and cheese?

With escalating health expenditure and a shrinking purse, there is increased focus on the cost efficacy of still patented versus generic medications in general, and for atypical antipsychotics in particular. In a recent BMC Medicine article, Godman and colleagues presented data indicating poor uptake of the off patent atypical antipsychotic risperidone, arguing for authorities to mandate its greater use. This is under the assumption of clinical equivalence of atypical antipsychotics. This commentary argues that there are clinically meaningful differences between atypical antipsychotics and important inter-individual heterogeneity in clinical response and tolerability. Access to a broad range of atypical antipsychotics enables clinicians to tailor care, taking consideration of differential efficacy and adverse effects profile in order to meet the needs of individual patients with improved real world effectiveness of treatment. Restriction of agent choice risks detracting from optimal clinical care, with possible poorer outcomes and greater costs of care. A balance between encouraging use of cheapest in class agent and allowing access to various atypical agents for tailored care is likely to produce optimal health outcomes.Please see related article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/12/98.

Contractual thinking and responsible government in China : a constructivist framework for analysis

Responsible government is often seen as contingent on democracy. Yet despite China's continued lack of notable progress in democratization, recent years have witnessed some limited moves towards responsible governance. In the absence of free elections and other institutional arrangements, how can an authoritarian regime become responsible? This paper turns to the role of ideas and culture in general and contractual thinking in particular for an explanation. Contractual thinking, defined as a particular kind of intersubjective understanding between the government and citizens with regard to their mutual interests, is present in both China's contemporary official discourse on "responsible government" and traditional Chinese culture. Taking a constructivist approach, the paper focuses on two interrelated aspects of the role of contractual thinking in the construction of responsible government. First, it examines how contractual thinking, by helping redefine the identity and interest of the government in line with citizens' loyalty, could allow more responsible government behaviour. It then illustrates that in the case of government irresponsibility, contractual thinking sets the discursive context for rightful resistance from citizens as well as for a more sympathetic reading of such resistance by the government, both of which, the paper argues, could facilitate the development of responsible governance.

Rain or shine: happiness and risk-taking

In this paper, we focus on the effects of weather, such as sunshine, as an exogenous shifter of happiness using happiness data at the individual level, and estimate sunshine as a predictor of happiness. Then we relate the predicted happiness to risk-taking. By doing so, we estimate a relationship, stronger than a simple correlation, between happiness and risky behavior. Weather changes, and sunshine in particular, have substantial influences on personal happiness. However, unexpected weather changes appear to be more important than expected changes for happiness. We include several risk measures such as subjective risk-taking and financial assets in our analysis. Happier people appear to be more risk-averse in general and more specifically in financial decisions, and choose accordingly safer investments. This might be explained by the fact that happy people take more time for making decisions and have more self-control. In addition, predicted happiness affects expectations about longevity and inflation. Happy people expect to live longer and accordingly seem more concerned about the future than the present, and expect less inflation.

Assessment and the promotion of academic values

This paper raises issues concerning the relationship between student assessment and the values which academic institutions propagate. It argues that many current assessment practices are incompatible with the goals of independence, thoughtfulness and critical analysis to which most academics would subscribe; that forms of assessment which are commonplace are not consistent with the behaviour of academics in their own contributions to knowledge; and that there is evidence to suggest that the assessment policy of many departments undermines deep approaches to learning on the part of students. Some indications are given of possible strategies to address the problems which have been identified, drawing upon ideas from academic and professional practice in general and self-assessment and peer review in particular.

Unhealthy food, integrated marketing communication and power: a critical analysis

Public health advocates have repeatedly highlighted parallels between food marketing and childhood obesity. Yet existing literature has not explored the connection between the promotion of unhealthy foods and beverages, certain characteristics of integrated marketing communication (IMC) and the power of multinational food and beverage companies. This is problematic because IMC represents the dominant marketing paradigm in use today. This article draws on critical theory and literature from across public health, marketing, business and related fields. By focusing on macro-level antecedents and interactions, this discussion highlights a previously unarticulated dimension of the promotion of unhealthy foods and beverages to children and adolescents. In doing so, this discussion aims to generate greater recognition of the broader environmental circumstances and processes that surround food marketing tactics and their consequences for public health nutrition. This perspective will also contribute to an expanded understanding of unhealthy food marketing and its unintended consequences, among an audience of nutrition, public health and policy communities.