The Consumption of Organic, Traditional, and/or European Eco-Label Products: Elements of Local Production and Sustainability

When we talk about products with a low impact on the environment, e.g., organic, traditional, or having the European ecological label, their sales are a central element of the economy. Many variables and local cultural values influence consumer behavior, including education and life requirements. Sustainable development involves education on consumption habits and low-environmental-impact production. This article aims to identify the role of education and remuneration in the consumption of sustainable products. Different working hypotheses are formulated. The first hypothesis of our study tests the existence of a direct correlation between the consumer’s level of education and their opinion on consuming low-environmental-impact products, influencing the ability to make appropriate decisions. The second one refers to the level of income and consumption behavior. The research method is a statistical one, based on a quantitative analysis and using a questionnaire as a tool. For 60% of the high-level graduate respondents, a product’s source is significant in their choices. Over 70% of the responders who earn above the median income believe it is essential to consume organic products. The results obtained confirm our initial assumptions. Our findings underline the current knowledge regarding consumption of sustainable products, their characteristics, and consumers’ interest in them.

Eco system and a food chain as a model for eco design

Environmental problems are becoming the most important issue under consideration in all areas of our lives today. Designers have begun to develop zero-impact products, create “green” projects, and use both energy-efficient materials and innovative technologies in order to solve pollution issues. This article discusses an eco-design model based on an eco-system. The authors make analysis of general requirements for environmental projects. They give interesting solutions to environmental problems, where the main goal is to achieve harmony in the "man-nature" system.

Catechol-Loading Nanofibrous Membranes for Eco-Friendly Iron Nutrition of Plants

Modern agriculture requires more efficient and low-impact products and formulations than traditional agrochemicals to improve crop yields. Iron is a micronutrient essential for plant growth and photosynthesis, but it is mostly present in insoluble forms in ecosystems so that it is often limiting for plants. This study was aimed at combining natural strategies and biodegradable nanostructured materials to create environmentally friendly and low-toxic bioactive products capable of both supplying iron to Fe-deficient plants and reducing the impact of agricultural products on the environment. Consequently, free-standing electrospun nanofibrous polycaprolactone/polyhydroxybutyrate thin membranes loaded with catechol (CL-NMs) as an iron-chelating natural agent (at two concentrations) were fabricated on purpose to mobilize Fe from insoluble forms and transfer it to duckweed (Lemna minor L.) plants. The effectiveness of CL-NMs in providing iron to Fe-deficient plants, upon catechol release, tested in duckweeds grown for 4 days under controlled hydroponic conditions, displayed temporal variations in both photosynthetic efficiency and biometric parameters measured by chlorophyll fluorescence and growth imaging. Duckweeds supplied with CL-NMs hosting higher catechol concentrations recovered most of the physiological and growth performances previously impaired by Fe limitation. The absence of short-term toxicity of these materials on duckweeds also proved the low impact on ecosystems of these products.

Rolling drops: Nilkamal Wello Water Wheel

Learning outcomes The case will enable students to understand and ponder on how an organization goes about identifying and launching social impact products, how social impact products should be promoted, what the opportunities and challenges in executing a social impact strategy of developing a new product line by a leading industry player are, what is the type of social investment that will generate both social and financial returns and how a sustainable social impact strategy should be aligned with the corporate strategy of the firm. Case overview/synopsis Listed in 1991 on the National Stock Exchange in India, Nilkamal Limited is the largest manufacturer of moulded plastic furniture in the world. In line with their tradition, Nilkamal has now introduced a new range of products, under “social impact products” category, to cater to some of the pressing needs of the society. For this purpose, they have entered into an agreement with a US-based organization, Wello, to manufacture and market their iconic product, the Water Wheel. The euphoria surrounding the new social impact product, Water Wheel, has been immense but its commercial viability is yet to materialize. The case provokes the students to analyse the decision of venturing into social impact products and the challenges associated with it. The case grapples with the issues faced by a business firm that looks to incorporate social impact products as part of regular commercial operations. The key question to be addressed is “How far can social impact products be a good strategy to bring corporate sustainability and what should be the approach in this case?” Complexity academic level Study level: MBA students’ applicability: corporate responsibility and corporate sustainability, social impact strategy Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy

Global Earthquake Response with Imaging Geodesy: Recent Examples from the USGS NEIC

The U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center leads real-time efforts to provide rapid and accurate assessments of the impacts of global earthquakes, including estimates of ground shaking, ground failure, and the resulting human impacts. These efforts primarily rely on analysis of the seismic wavefield to characterize the source of the earthquake, which in turn informs a suite of disaster response products such as ShakeMap and PAGER. In recent years, the proliferation of rapidly acquired and openly available in-situ and remotely sensed geodetic observations has opened new avenues for responding to earthquakes around the world in the days following significant events. Geodetic observations, particularly from interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) and satellite optical imagery, provide a means to robustly constrain the dimensions and spatial complexity of earthquakes beyond what is typically possible with seismic observations alone. Here, we document recent cases where geodetic observations contributed important information to earthquake response efforts—from informing and validating seismically-derived source models to independently constraining earthquake impact products—and the conditions under which geodetic observations improve earthquake response products. We use examples from the 2013 Mw7.7 Baluchistan, Pakistan, 2014 Mw6.0 Napa, California, 2015 Mw7.8 Gorkha, Nepal, and 2018 Mw7.5 Palu, Indonesia earthquakes to highlight the varying ways geodetic observations have contributed to earthquake response efforts at the NEIC. We additionally provide a synopsis of the workflows implemented for geodetic earthquake response. As remote sensing geodetic observations become increasingly available and the frequency of satellite acquisitions continues to increase, operational earthquake geodetic imaging stands to make critical contributions to natural disaster response efforts around the world.

2532

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: The central goal is to predict the metabolites of varenicline and predictively evaluate their propensities for eliciting an increased binding effect in the brain. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Molecular modeling computational software and other cheminformatic tools present a strategic in silico strategy to predict a complete metabolic transformation for the varenicline molecule. Molecular docking tools help to highlight key interactions of the varenicline with key metabolizing enzymes that are differentially expressed across a population. This will assist in validating clinical models for smoking cessation. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Differentialized binding results depending on whatever metabolite is produced. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Products of metabolism of varenicline may differ in individuals and across groups, thus, binding effects and the propensity for adverse effects may differ in individuals.