Supermarkets and private standards : unintended consequences of the audit ritual

Recent scholarship has considered the implications of the rise of voluntary private standards in food and the role of private actors in a rapidly evolving, de-facto ‘mandatory’ sphere of governance. Standards are an important element of this globalising private sphere, but are an element that has been relatively peripheral in analyses of power in agri-food systems. Sociological thought has countered orthodox views of standards as simple tools of measurement, instead understanding their function as a governance mechanism that transforms many things, and people, during processes of standardisation. In a case study of the Australian retail supermarket duopoly and the proprietary standards required for market access this paper foregrounds retailers as standard owners and their role in third-party auditing and certification. Interview data from primary research into Australia’s food standards captures the multifaceted role supermarkets play as standard-owners, who are found to impinge on the independence of third-party certification while enforcing rigorous audit practices. We show how standard owners, in attempting to standardize the audit process, generate tensions within certification practices in a unique example of ritualism around audit. In examining standards to understand power in contemporary food governance, it is shown that retailers are drawn beyond standard-setting into certification and enforcement, that is characterized by a web of institutions and actors whose power to influence outcomes is uneven.

国际化标准框架下蒙文操作系统的设计

蒙文操作系统实现较为复杂的原因在于两个方面：①传统蒙文采用自顶向下竖写、每列从左向右排列的书写方式；②蒙文字符在不同文本上下文中采用变化相当复杂的显现字形．基于操作系统国际化体系结构，从蒙文字符集、蒙文字符的变形显现、蒙文文本的垂直显示、蒙文独特的图形用户界面等多个方面阐述了传统蒙文操作系统实现中面临的难点和技术方案；简要介绍了基于Qt／KDE桌面系统的实现；最后提出了蒙文操作系统实现仍需要解决的问题。

Desmitificar la publicidad : lectura crítica de los medios en el aula.

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Contribuição ao estudo farmacognóstico da mutamba (Guazuma ulmifolia - Sterculiaceae)

Guazuma ulmifolia Lam., Sterculiaceae, popularly known as mutamba, has a wide geographical distribution, ranging from Mexico to Southern Brazil. The interest in its chemical properties is due to its popular use for hair loss treatment. This activity can be attributed to tannins that have many pharmacological activities such anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcerogenic, anti-microbial, anti-viral, capillary protective action and radical scavenging properties. In the microscopic analysis of barks and leaves, large secretor ducts could be detected among the parenchyma cells, as well as star shaped trichoms on the epidermis. One of the aims of the anatomical study was to detect tissues with polyphenolic compounds. The results indicated two tissues rich in these compounds: the phloematic region and the periderm. Chemical analyses were carried out on the bark and showed the presence of the following chemical groups: flavonoids, tannins, saponins and mucilages.