Bio-Based Products

Communicating the related environmental benefits of bio-based products to consumers represents a key component of their market uptake. In this regard, the use of ecolabels ISO 14024 Type I play a crucial role. This article identifies and analyzes different criteria proposed by ecolabels for conducting a sustainability assessment of bio-based products considering its entire lifecycle. A comparison of the selected criteria with existing indicators ruled out by the SDGs is proposed. Through expert consultation, the suitability of existing ecolabel criteria for bio-based products has been tested for four applications of biobased products: food packaging from PLA; biobased automotive components; bio-based mulch film; and bio-based insulation material.

Identification and classification of facilities managers functions: a proposal validated by Latin American experts

The functions performed by facility management practitioners and their classification have evolved over the last decades. The practice of Facility Management integrates many professions; however, certain authors have pointed out that heterogeneous views are generated by those responsible for the facilities and this has caused confusion about the understanding of the discipline in recent years. In addition, different attitudes about the discipline have been presented depending on the vision of the British or American schools of FM, which face the objectives and tasks throughout these years in different ways. This causes diffuse areas that prevent the identification of the entire spectrum of functions related to support activities in a facility management system. The objective of this research was to identify and classify the functions performed until the present time by facility managers in the literature to establish the scope of a facility management system. In this work, the authors carried out a review of the literature and an analysis of the different documents that gave rise to a proposal of the different functions performed and their classification into main areas. Later, a validation of the proposal was requested through an expert consultation in facility management in Latin America, which reached 94% approval. The validated proposal is composed of at least 37 functions performed by facility management professionals, and these functions can be classified into six main areas: Asset and Maintenance Management; Real Estate and Property Management; Energy and Sustainability Management; Corporate Project Management; Workplace Management; and Facilities Services Management.

Detecting the Crisis of Supply Chain Management on E-Commerce for Sustainability Using Q-Technique

Detecting the crisis of supply chain management is an important subject for the sustainable management of e-commerce. The purpose of this study was to explore the application of Q-technique to the detection of supply chain crises in the imported food industry under the influence of COVID-19. Literature analysis, expert consultation, and Q-technique methods were adopted. We used an expert consultation and questionnaire survey combined with Q-technique using the imported food industry in Taiwan as an example. Fifteen business owners were interviewed to identify priorities for supply chain crises, and 137 questionnaires were collected to determine the strength of each item. By investigating suppliers, distributors, wholesalers, platform operators, online sellers, and logistics operators, this study obtained the priority of supply chain crisis items and the strength of factors for each item. The results show that Q-technique can effectively detect the crisis of cross-border supply chain management, clarifying import food industry e-commerce supply chain crisis items and determining their priority and strength, to help enterprises make emergency decisions regarding supply chain operation, and they can also be used as a reference for enterprises to respond to the crisis.

Determination of glycemic index and glycemic load of typical northeastern preparations / Determinação de índice glicêmico e carga glicêmica de preparações típicas do Nordeste

Introduction: One of the important factors for a normal healthy diet is the glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (CG) of foods, since diets with inadequate GI and CG seem to be directly related to the increase in the prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases. Objective: To determine the GI and CG of three typical Northeastern preparations. Methodology: An experimental, quantitative, descriptive and analytical study was carried out. The sample size was convenience (n=10), however, considering the recommendations of the FAO / WHO Expert Consultation (1998). For the determination of GI and CG, an adaptation of the FAO / WHO Expert Consultation protocol (1998), which consisted in the standardization of a 50 g portion of the tested preparations, but considering a minimum of 25 g of glycemic carbohydrate. The volunteers were fasted for 10 hours the night before the samples and had capillary glycemia measured at the intervals of 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120 minutes after consumption of the standard food and the proposed preparations, taken from the "Brazilian Regional Food Guide" of the Ministry of Health (2015), being tapioca with maracuja jelly, seriguela cake and macaxeira bread. Results: Tapioca preparations with passionfruit jelly, seriguela cake and macaxeira bread presented high glycemic index and glycemic load, as evidenced in the analyzes performed. Conclusion: The objective of this work was reached, since the GI and CG of the three proposed preparations were determined, contributing to the expansion of nutritional information and supporting the idea of food and nutritional education.

Contextualising clinical reasoning within the clinical swallow evaluation: A scoping review and expert consultation

Background: This study explored the available literature on the phenomenon of clinical reasoning and described its influence on the clinical swallow evaluation. By exploring the relationship between clinical reasoning and the clinical swallow evaluation, it is possible to modernise the approach to dysphagia assessment.Objectives: This study aimed to contextualise the available literature on clinical reasoning and the CSE to low-middle income contexts through the use of a scoping review and expert consultation.Method: A scoping review was performed based on the PRISMA-ScR framework. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. Articles were considered if they discussed the clinical swallow evaluation and clinical reasoning, and were published in the last 49 years.Results: Through rigorous electronic and manual searching, 12 articles were identified. This review made an argument for the value of clinical reasoning within the clinical swallow evaluation. The results of the study revealed three core themes related to the acquisition, variability and positive impact of clinical reasoning in the clinical swallow evaluation.Conclusion: The results of this review showed that the clinical swallow evaluation is a complex process with significant levels of variability usually linked to the impact of context. This demonstrates that in order to deliver effective and relevant services, despite challenging conditions, healthcare practitioners must depend on clinical reasoning to make appropriate modifications to the assessment process that considers these salient factors.