Environmentalism and the multinational corporation: a viewpoint‐part II

This is Part Two of a two‐part paper on environmentalism and the multinational corporation. Part One was published in the previous issue of this journal.

In Part One, we explored the concept of “power as capability” as seen in the rationale for international production, namely, ownership, locational, and internalization advantages. In this Part, we apply the concept of “power as influence” to re‐examine the bargaining power of the host country, the MNC, the home country, and Non‐Governmental Organizations. It is argued that in the initial bargaining with LDC host country, the power balance is tipped in favor of MNC as the lack of technical expertise may hinder feasibility assessment of pollution performance. However, over time, the bargaining power of LDC host increases, but constrained by the momentum of globalization. The power of the MNC is higher in manufacturing than in extractive industries. Home country plays an important role in influencing the formulating of corporate environmental policies by the MNC. The influence of NGOs is minimal while a lack of effective international pressure on MNCs arises from the non‐existence of a powerful a supranational IGO.     

The use of a virtual city model for assessing equity in access to views

The development of virtual city models has provided novel possibilities for analyses that require consideration of building heights in urban areas. The study was undertaken to explore these possibilities by using the virtual Kyoto model to examine equity in access to views in the Japanese city. A sample of just over 5000 residences was selected by stratifying for population age and affluence. A series of viewsheds were computed to quantify the visibility of a range of environmental amenities (greenspaces, water bodies, historical buildings, mountains) and disamenities (factories and roads). Evidence of inequity in visual amenity was identified, whereby homes in areas with many old people were much less likely to have views of greenspaces and water bodies, although they were also less likely to see factories and roads and were more likely to view mountains. Homes in more affluent areas had better views of greenspaces, historical buildings, and mountains, and were less likely to see factories and water bodies. We discuss the potential of virtual city models for furthering analyses of the urban environment and raise some caveats regarding their use.     

Hot air expansion of potato starch pellets with different water contents and salt concentrations

The expansion and puffing kinetics of commercial potato starch pellets were examined using a hot air fan oven in order to determine the puffing kinetics. The time for the onset of expansion showed uni-molecular type kinetic behaviour and was modelled by an Arrhenius plot. A pseudo-activation enthalpy for pellet expansion was also determined. The initial moisture content of the commercial pellets was controlled and the changes in the extent of puffing and the pseudo-activation enthalpy were found. The effect of type and quantity of cation in the formulation was then investigated. Expansion occurred even when no cation was added although the presence of cation did improve pellet expansion. The ratio of the native and pre-gelatinized starch in the pellets was also varied and showed to have limited effect on the extent of expansion. The puffing mechanism is discussed in light of these observations.     

Nanoporous poly(methyl methacrylate)-quantum dots nanocomposite fibers toward biomedical applications

In this work, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) nanocomposite fibers were fabricated via a simple electrospinning method. The parameters including concentration of PMMA, feed rate, applied voltage and working distance between the needle tip and the fiber collecting electrode were investigated and optimized to acquire large quantity, uniform and defect-free PMMA and its QD nanocomposite fibers. The surface morphology of the fibers was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), while the fluorescence emission characteristics of the polymer nanocomposite (PNC) fibers were analyzed with fluorescence microscopy. The thermal properties of the PMMA-QDs PNC fibers were explored by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In comparison to the pristine PMMA fibers, the PNC fibers with only 0.1 wt% QD loading showed an improved thermal stability by 15 °C for the midpoint and onset degradation temperature. Surface chemical structure and functionalities were probed by a combination of attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). New vibration bands were observed in the PNC fibers in the ATR-FTIR spectra, while the binding energy for both high resolution C 1s and O 1s spectra in the PNC fibers showed an apparent shift toward lower field. Rheological studies revealed a pseudoplastic behavior of both pristine PMMA and PMMA-QDs solutions. Moreover, the formed nanoporous PMMA-QDs fiber media exhibited an excellent biocompatibility as evidenced by the model Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell culturing test. The CHO cells demonstrated good adhesion, growth and viability in the reported testing.     

Book Reviews

Recent research into the UK construction industry has identified various drivers for change and prominent among these is the need for better client leadership. The aim of this research was to examine the role of the client in securing a greater degree of supply chain integration. It used three diverse case studies to examine the association between clients, the environmental factors that affect their businesses, the procurement decisions made and the level of supply chain integration that can be achieved. The results of this research provide independent empirical support for some of the recommendations of the recently released Accelerating Change report and some practical amplification. Clients are shown to be key drivers of performance improvement and innovation and are the most significant factor in achieving integration in the supply chain.     

Fluorescent Amino Acids: Modular Building Blocks for the Assembly of New Tools for Chemical Biology

Fluorescence spectroscopy is a powerful tool for probing complex biological processes. The ubiquity of peptide–protein and protein–protein interactions in these processes has made them important targets for fluorescence labeling, and to allow sensitive readout of information concerning location, interactions with other biomolecules, and macromolecular dynamics. This review describes recent advances in design, properties and applications in the area of fluorescent amino acids (FlAAs). The ability to site‐selectively incorporate fluorescent amino acid building blocks into a protein or peptide of interest provides the advantage of closely retaining native function and appearance. The development of an array of fluorescent amino acids with a variety of properties, such as environment sensitivity, chelation‐enhanced fluorescence, and profluorescence, has allowed researchers to gain insights into biological processes, including protein conformational changes, binding events, enzyme activities, and protein trafficking and localization.     

Measured Field Performance and Computer Analysis of Large-Diameter Multiplate Steel Pipe Culvert Installed in Ohio

Between 2001 and 2002, a 6.4-m (21.0-ft) diameter corrugated steel pipe culvert was erected and buried under a 22.9-m (75.0-ft) highway embankment fill in Meigs County, Ohio. This steel pipe culvert was the first of its kind to be constructed in the southeastern region of Ohio. The culvert structure was selected by the Ohio Department of Transportation over an alternative of a 5 million conventional bridge structure, because it would cost about $3.4 million less. The field performance of the culvert was monitored by measuring the pressure distribution around the pipe, as well as the deflections of the pipe culvert during and after construction. The culvert study also included comparing measured field performance with numerical predictions given by the finite-element computer program CANDE-89. CANDE-89 with the slotted joint option had a limited ability to simulate the actual field behavior of the large-diameter multiplate culvert structure, especially in the earlier stages of construction.     

Shape of a particle curtain falling in stagnant air

The dynamics of a free falling particle curtain were analysed and studied in the laboratory. In the experiments a steady, uniform, high-voidage stream of particles was fed through a rectangular slit to form a curtain across the entire width of a horizontal duct of cross-section of 0.15 × 0.60 m. The thickness of the particle stream at the inlet was varied over the range 2-10 cm by varying the width of the rectangular slit. The particle flow rates were maintained constant at approximately 0.040 kg/s. The shape of the particle curtain was recorded using a high-speed video camera. Our results indicated a low voidage curtain led to diverging curtain; increasing the initial voidage of the particle stream caused the curtain to become less divergent; further increase the voidage of the particle stream caused the curtain to become increasingly convergent. The shape of particle curtain was analysed using an Eulerian-Eulerian computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. Reasonable agreement was found between the experiments and the CFD model predictions.     

Perceptions of group cohesion and mood in sport teams.

Perceptions of group cohesion and mood were investigated among netball, rowing, and rugby teams. Participants (N?=?415) completed the Group Environment Questionnaire and the Profile of Mood States—C. For task cohesion, high attraction to the group predicted low tension and anger and high group integration predicted low depression. For social cohesion, high attraction to the group predicted low tension, low depression, and high vigor, but group integration was not predictive of mood. Type of sport did not moderate cohesion–mood relationships, although significant between-sport differences in cohesion and mood scores were seen. Results are discussed in relation to the R. F. Baumeister and M. R. Leary (1995) proposition that the need to belong is a fundamental human motive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)