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Item Barriers and facilitators to implementation of healthy food and drink policies in public sector workplaces: a systematic literature review.(19/06/2023) Rosin M; Mackay S; Gerritsen S; Te Morenga L; Terry G; Ni Mhurchu CCONTEXT: Many countries and institutions have adopted policies to promote healthier food and drink availability in various settings, including public sector workplaces. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this review was to systematically synthesize evidence on barriers and facilitators to implementation of and compliance with healthy food and drink policies aimed at the general adult population in public sector workplaces. DATA SOURCES: Nine scientific databases, 9 grey literature sources, and government websites in key English-speaking countries along with reference lists. DATA EXTRACTION: All identified records (N = 8559) were assessed for eligibility. Studies reporting on barriers and facilitators were included irrespective of study design and methods used but were excluded if they were published before 2000 or in a non-English language. DATA ANALYSIS: Forty-one studies were eligible for inclusion, mainly from Australia, the United States, and Canada. The most common workplace settings were healthcare facilities, sports and recreation centers, and government agencies. Interviews and surveys were the predominant methods of data collection. Methodological aspects were assessed with the Critical Appraisal Skills Program Qualitative Studies Checklist. Generally, there was poor reporting of data collection and analysis methods. Thematic synthesis identified 4 themes: (1) a ratified policy as the foundation of a successful implementation plan; (2) food providers' acceptance of implementation is rooted in positive stakeholder relationships, recognizing opportunities, and taking ownership; (3) creating customer demand for healthier options may relieve tension between policy objectives and business goals; and (4) food supply may limit the ability of food providers to implement the policy. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that although vendors encounter challenges, there are also factors that support healthy food and drink policy implementation in public sector workplaces. Understanding barriers and facilitators to successful policy implementation will significantly benefit stakeholders interested or engaging in healthy food and drink policy development and implementation. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO registration no. CRD42021246340.Item Remediation Technologies for Neonicotinoids in Contaminated Environments: Current State and Future Prospects(Elsevier, 16/06/2023) Wei J; Wang X; Tu C; Long T; Bu Y; Wang H; Jeyakumar P; Jiang J; Deng SNeonicotinoids (NEOs) are synthetic insecticides with broad-spectrum insecticidal activity and outstanding efficacy. However, their extensive use and persistence in the environment have resulted in the accumulation and biomagnification of NEOs, posing significant risks to non-target organisms and humans. This review provides a summary of research history, advancements, and highlighted topics in NEOs remediation technologies and mechanisms. Various remediation approaches have been developed, including physiochemical, microbial, and phytoremediation, with microbial and physicochemical remediation being the most extensively studied. Recent advances in physiochemical remediation have led to the development of innovative adsorbents, photocatalysts, and optimized treatment processes. High-efficiency degrading strains with well-characterized metabolic pathways have been successfully isolated and cultured for microbial remediation, while many plant species have shown great potential for phytoremediation. However, significant challenges and gaps remain in this field. Future research should prioritize isolating, domesticating or engineering high efficiency, broad-spectrum microbial strains for NEO degradation, as well as developing synergistic remediation techniques to enhance removal efficiency on multiple NEOs with varying concentrations in different environmental media. Furthermore, a shift from pipe-end treatment to pollution prevention strategies is needed, including the development of green and economically efficient alternatives such as biological insecticides. Integrated remediation technologies and case-specific strategies that can be applied to practical remediation projects need to be developed, along with clarifying NEO degradation mechanisms to improve remediation efficiency. The successful implementation of these strategies will help reduce the negative impact of NEOs on the environment and human health.Item The limits of satire, or the reification of cultural politics(SAGE Publications, 15/02/2023) Holm NItem Plastic Legacies: Pollution, Persistence, and Politics(Athabasca University Press, 13/07/2021) Farrelly, T; Taffel, S; Shaw, IThere is virtually nowhere on Earth today that remains untouched by plastic and ecosystems are evolving to adapt to this new context. While plastics have revolutionized our modern world, new and often unforeseen effects of plastic and its production are continually being discovered. Plastics are entangled in multiple ecological and social crises, from the plasticization of the oceans to the embeddedness of plastics in political hierarchies. The complexities surrounding the global plastic crisis require an interdisciplinary approach and the materialities of plastic demand new temporalities of thought and action. Plastic Legacies brings together scholars from the fields of marine biology, psychology, anthropology, environmental studies, Indigenous studies, and media studies to investigate and address the urgent socio-ecological challenges brought about by plastics. Contributors consider the unpredictable nature of plastics and weigh actionable solutions and mitigation processes against the ever-changing situation. Moving beyond policy changes, this volume offers a critique of neoliberal approaches to tackling the plastics crisis and explores how politics and communicative action are key to implementing social, cultural, and economic change.Item Forage plant ecophysiology(MDPI, 17/08/2017) Matthew, CThis edition is a reprint of the Special Issue published online in the open access journal Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472) from 2015–2017 (available at: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/agriculture/special_issues/forage_plant_ecophysiology).Item Affect, responsibility, and how modes of engagement shape the experience of videogames(Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA), 13/12/2015) Veale, KRWhen considering the elements that shape our experience of fiction, the line distinguishing the text itself from the processes we go through in negotiating that text is easy to miss. Even something as simple as knowing roughly how far through a book we are as we read will influence our experience of the story. If the same story is moved into a hypertext context that eliminates that physical awareness from the experience, then that changes our mode of engagement. Understanding how different modes of engagement shape our experiences of fiction will be helpful not just for the analysis of new media storytelling, but for understanding how we have already been telling stories for a very long time. What sets the experience of videogames apart from other forms of mediated storytelling is that the person playing the game can come to feel responsible for events and characters within a fictional world.Item Understanding the nature of media scandals in light of recent revelations in New Zealand's political life(17/07/2016) Hannis, GDThe nature of media scandals is considered in light of the numerous scandals that have recently dominated New Zealand’s political life. These media scandals have centred on two individuals: rightwing blogger Cameron Slater and internet tycoon Kim Dotcom. In part, the scandals were driven simply by the fact some of the people involved were celebrities. However, genuinely important issues were raised, including journalistic independence and illegal government spying. Ultimately, the media scandals revealed the conservative character of New Zealand society.Item Analysis of the management and costs associated with rearing pregnant dairy heifers in the UK from conception to calving(Scientific Research Publishing, 16/10/2015) Boulton AC; Rushton J; Wathes DCGood management of the pregnant heifer is crucial to ensure that she is well grown and healthy and calves down easily before joining the milking herd. This study collected primary data on all aspects of heifer management on 101 UK farms during heifer pregnancy from conception to calving including farm factors and associated costs of system inputs. A cost analysis workbook was developed to calculate the cost of rearing per heifer for each of the study farms. Associations between cost of rearing and farms factors were determined using linear regression and analysis of variance. Heifers had a mean age of conception of 509 d (range 365 - 700 d) and an age at first calving of 784 d (range 639 - 973 d). The mean total cost of rearing during pregnancy was £450.36 (range £153.11 to £784.00) with a mean daily cost of £1.64 (range £0.56 to £2.86). The inputs contributing the most to cost were feed (32.7%), labour (23.8%) and slurry disposal (11.2%). Total purchased and homegrown feed and grazing contributed between 25.5% and 65.4% of total costs with a mean contribution of 43.6%. The cost of rearing was lowest in spring calving herds and highest in all year round calving herds with intermediate values in autumn and multi block calving herds. The main variables influencing the cost were the number of days spent at grass, age at first calving, calving pattern, breed, herd size and region. Each extra day in age at first calving increased the mean cost of rearing during pregnancy by £0.33/d whereas every extra day at grass reduced the cost by £1.75/d.Item Cash tunnelling in Chinese firms(Financial Management Association, 19/10/2016) Wei, Y; Chen, JG; Wirth, CGThis study investigates how controlling shareholders fraudulently extracted firm value via cash tunnelling from Chinese companies from 1998 to 2011. The evidence suggests that expropriating owners choose a balance sheet account that is not directly related to the firm’s operating business in order to record a fictitious asset, with the account remaining in the company’s books for a reasonably long time. The delay in recognising the fictitious asset as a loss in the financial statements makes it more difficult for auditors to detect the fraud. We develop two measures to estimate the total loss caused by the cash tunnelling, and estimate the loss to be two to four times net income. Evidence on the factors and process surrounding cash tunnelling is presented, and we demonstrate that the propensity to engage in tunnelling is positively related to the differential rights between controlling shareholders and minority shareholders and negatively related to firm profitability, the probability of fraud detection and the severity of the punishment.
