Official Regulations Research Articles

Effects of official and unofficial environmental regulations on environmental quality: Evidence from the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China

Due to the increasing impact of climate change, there is a need to examine the effect of environmental regulation on environmental quality. Consequently, we examine the nonlinear and mediation effects of environmental regulation on environmental quality using panel data of 45 major cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China, from 2013 to 2020. Environmental regulation is divided into official and unofficial environmental regulations according to its formality. The results indicate that an increase of official and unofficial environmental regulations can promote the improvement of environmental quality. In fact, the positive effect of environmental regulation on cities with better environmental quality is greater than that of cities with poorer environmental quality. The implementation of both official and unofficial environmental regulations can improve environmental quality better than the single implementation of either official environmental regulation or unofficial environmental regulation. There are full mediation effects of Gross Domestic Product per capita and technological progress in the positive effects of official environmental regulation on environmental quality. There are also partial mediation effects of technological progress and industrial structure in the positive effects of unofficial environmental regulation on environmental quality. This study assesses the policy effectiveness of environmental regulation and determines the underlying mechanism between environmental regulation and environmental quality to provide a reference for other countries regarding environmental improvement.

Money and the Regularisation of African Soldiers in the Early Phase of Italian Colonialism in Eritrea

The article focusses on transformations in the military labour regimes brought about by the recruitment of African soldiers during the early years of the Italian colony of Eritrea, by analysing colonial reports, correspondence and official regulations. On the one hand, it demonstrates that the lack of complete political control forced the Italians to adapt to the local multiple currency system for the building and maintenance of the indigenous corps. On the other hand, it shows that money was employed in colonial discourse and practice as a tool to facilitate the regularisation of indigenous soldiers.

Antibiotic Culture: A History of Antibiotic Use in the Second Half of the 20th and Early 21st Century in the People’s Republic of China

Antimicrobial resistance is now widely regarded as a global public health threat. A growing number of studies suggest that antibiotic resistance is higher in China than in most western countries. Despite the current official regulation prohibiting pharmacies from the unrestricted selling of antibiotics, there is little sign of declining consumer demand. China now ranks as the second largest consumer of antibiotics in the world, after India. Drawing on published historical data, unpublished archival documents, and recently collected oral interviews, this paper provides a historical overview of antibiotic use and abuse in the People's Republic of China (PRC) from the second half of the 20th century to the present. It demonstrates how the political demand for health improvement, along with the state-sponsored popularization of allopathic medicine, on the one hand, and the lack of access to adequate medical care for the majority of the population, as well as the existing culture of self-medication, on the other hand, are working in tandem to create antibiotic dependency in China. In addition, the privatization and marketization of biomedicine and health care in post-Mao China have helped to build a new and ever-thriving network of production, distribution, and marketing of antibiotics, which has often proven difficult for the authorities to monitor. At the same time, increased purchasing power and easier accessibility created by this new network of production, distribution, and marketing have further contributed to the prevalence of antibiotic overuse in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Masculinity in crisis? Reticent / han-xu politics against danmei and male effeminacy

This article examines the tension between public gender expressions and official regulations in mainland China. Utilizing a critical discourse analysis, we investigate a transition in state-initiated criticism and censorship against the danmei genre and male effeminacy. Focusing on the pandemic period, we use official regulations and state media feature articles as data, ‘reticent / han-xu’ politics as a grounding theoretical basis, and statements from mainstream media platforms as secondary resources. We argue that han-xu politics functions as the Chinese party-state's strategic response to a perceived ‘crisis of masculinity’. They first invisibilize and marginalize soft masculinities, and if this is not effective, then suppress and prohibit cultural forms that violate hegemonic masculinity, which works to perpetuate the hetero-patriarchal social-familial system.

Characterization of a new polymeric food contact coating with emphasis on the chemical analysis and safety assessment of non-intentionally added substances (NIAS).

Regulators have established safety requirements for food packaging raw materials and finished products, including by-products of polymer synthesis known as non-intentionally added substances (NIAS). However, there are no official guidance or regulations for best practices to evaluate the safety of NIAS. Here we described the process we followed to identify, characterize, and prioritize for safety assessment low molecular weight NIAS from an epoxy coating (V70) made with tetramethyl bisphenol F-based diglycidyl ether resin (TMBPF-DGE). We assembled a database of 15000 potential oligomers with masses up to 1000Da and conducted extraction and migration testing of V70 coating. Acetonitrile extract contained higher number and concentration of substances compared to ethanolic-based food simulants. The extract contained 16 substances with matches in the database with estimated concentration of 18.27 μg/6dm2; seven of these substances have potentially genotoxic oxirane functionality. TMBPF-DGE+hydroquinone (TMBPF-DGE+HQ) was most abundant (55% of total concentration) and was synthesized and prioritized for safety assessment. TMBPF-DGE+HQ exposure from can beverage was estimated at 5.2 μg/person/day, and it was not mutagenic or genotoxic in in vitro assays. The overall mixture of substances that migrated into ethanolic simulant was also negative in the mutagenicity bioassay. Our findings suggest that exposure to TMBPF-DGE+HQ from the V70 coating is exceedingly small and that the coating migrates are not genotoxic.

Bioaccumulation and Biotransformation of BDE-47 Using Zebrafish Eleutheroembryos (Danio rerio).

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are well-known endocrine disrupting chemicals identified as organic persistent pollutants. Their metabolites OH-BDE and MeO-BDE have been reported to be potentially more toxic than the postulated precursor PBDEs. One of the most predominant congeners of PBDEs in the environmentisBDE-47, due to its high presence in industrially used mixtures. In the present study, the bioaccumulation and biotransformation of BDE-47 into its major metabolites is evaluated using zebrafish (Danio rerio) eleutheroembryos adapting a previously developed alternative method to bioconcentration official guideline Organisation for Economic Co-ordination and Development 305, which reduces the animal suffering, time, and cost. For the simultaneous determination of BDE-47 and its metabolites in larvae and exposure medium, and considering the polarity difference of the analytes and the small sample size, the development of a validated analytical method is a step to ensure quality results. In the present study, an ultrasound-assisted extraction followed by a solid phase extraction dispersive clean-up step and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-microelectroncapturedetector(GC-MS-μECD) with a previous derivatization process was optimized and validated. Bioconcentration factors (BCFs) were calculated using a first-order one-compartment toxicokinetic model. The profiles found show rapid absorption in the first hours of larval development and great bioaccumulative capacity, finding BCFs of 7294 ± 899 and 36 363 ± 5702 at nominal concentrations of 10 and 1 μg L-1 , respectively. Metabolization studies show increasing concentrations of the metabolites BDE-28, 2'-OH-BDE-28, and 5-MeO-BDE-47 throughout the exposure time. The results obtained show the feasibility of the method for bioaccumulation and open up the possibility of metabolic studies with zebrafish eleutheroembryos, which is a very underdeveloped field without official testing or regulation. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:835-845. © 2023 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

Kinetics of PCDD/Fs from feed to cow milk and its implications for food safety

Guideline levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in feed and food have been separately recommended for the official food safety control around the world. However, less is considered about the transfer effect of PCDD/Fs from feed to food, and consequently possible human exposure risk. In this study, different controlled feeding experiments (E1 group: 4.92 pg TEQ/g in feed, E2 group: 0.61 pg TEQ/g in feed) were conducted on dairy cow (Chinese Holstein breed) to evaluate kinetics of PCDD/Fs from feed to milk and blood. Even though the PCDD/F level in feed in E2 was satisfied with the EU Regulation (No 277/2012), the TEQ levels in milk and tissues exceeded the European Union maximum level (EU ML) after approximately one-week exposure. The dynamic variation in milk during the initial 20-day exposure was successfully described by a first-order kinetic model. The levels at the plateau period showed a significant linear relationship (p < 0.01, R2 = 0.98) against the intake amounts from feed. Based on modeling, a maximum content was obtained at approximately 0.33 pg TEQ/g in cow feed with 12 % moisture to ensure the milk and meat safety under the current regulatory requirements of EU for cow-origin food. After the cease of exposure, the PCDD/F levels in milk declined below the EU ML within 40 days, while those in meat were still higher than the EU ML over 160 days. In serum, PCDD/Fs detected in E1 showed a similar dynamic variation during the exposure period. Regarding congener profile, higher-chlorinated congeners tended to transfer from feed to feces, whereas lower ones were preferably transferred into milk, which required specific concern about the metabolic effect of PCDD/Fs in large mammals. This study revealed a necessity for re-evaluation of official regulation on pollutants in cow feed and cow-origin food in terms of biotransfer and bioaccumulation.

Optimization of purchasing business process in Moroccan public universities based on COBIT and artificial intelligence techniques

PurposeThe main goal of this research work is the optimization of the purchasing business process in the Moroccan public sector in terms of transparency and budgetary optimization. The authors have worked on the public university as an implementation field.Design/methodology/approachThe design of the research work followed the design science research (DSR) methodology for information systems. DSR is a research paradigm wherein a designer answers questions relevant to human problems through the creation of innovative artifacts, thereby contributing new knowledge to the body of scientific evidence. The authors have adopted a techno-functional approach. The technical part consists of the development of an intelligent recommendation system that supports the choice of optimal information technology (IT) equipment for decision-makers. This intelligent recommendation system relies on a set of functional and business concepts, namely the Moroccan normative laws and Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology's (COBIT) guidelines in information system governance.FindingsThe modeling of business processes in public universities is established using business process model and notation (BPMN) in accordance with official regulations. The set of BPMN models constitute a powerful repository not only for business process execution but also for further optimization. Governance generally aims to reduce budgetary wastes, and the authors' recommendation system demonstrates a technical and methodological approach enabling this feature. Implementation of artificial intelligence techniques can bring great value in terms of transparency and fluidity in purchasing business process execution.Research limitations/implicationsBusiness limitations: First, the proposed system was modeled to handle one type products, which are computer-related equipment. Hence, the authors intend to extend the model to other types of products in future works. Conversely, the system proposes optimal purchasing order and assumes that decision makers will rely on this optimal purchasing order to choose between offers. In fact, as a perspective, the authors plan to work on a complete automation of the workflow to also include vendor selection and offer validation. Technical limitations: Natural language processing (NLP) is a widely used sentiment analysis (SA) technique that enabled the authors to validate the proposed system. Even working on samples of datasets, the authors noticed NLP dependency on huge computing power. The authors intend to experiment with learning and knowledge-based SA and assess the' computing power consumption and accuracy of the analysis compared to NLP. Another technical limitation is related to the web scraping technique; in fact, the users' reviews are crucial for the authors' system. To guarantee timeliness and reliable reviews, the system has to look automatically in websites, which confront the authors with the limitations of the web scraping like the permanent changing of website structure and scraping restrictions.Practical implicationsThe modeling of business processes in public universities is established using BPMN in accordance with official regulations. The set of BPMN models constitute a powerful repository not only for business process execution but also for further optimization. Governance generally aims to reduce budgetary wastes, and the authors' recommendation system demonstrates a technical and methodological approach enabling this feature.Originality/valueThe adopted techno-functional approach enabled the authors to bring information system governance from a highly abstract level to a practical implementation where the theoretical best practices and guidelines are transformed to a tangible application.

Advanced Graft Development Approaches for ACL Reconstruction or Regeneration.

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is one of the major knee ligaments, one which is greatly exposed to injuries. According to the British National Health Society, ACL tears represent around 40% of all knee injuries. The number of ACL injuries has increased rapidly over the past ten years, especially in people from 26-30 years of age. We present a brief background in currently used ACL treatment strategies with a description of surgical reconstruction techniques. According to the well-established method, the PubMed database was then analyzed to scaffold preparation methods and materials. The number of publications and clinical trials over the last almost 30 years were analyzed to determine trends in ACL graft development. Finally, we described selected ACL scaffold development publications of engineering, medical, and business interest. The systematic PubMed database analysis indicated a high interest in collagen for the purpose of ACL graft development, an increased interest in hybrid grafts, a numerical balance in the development of biodegradable and nonbiodegradable grafts, and a low number of clinical trials. The investigation of selected publications indicated that only a few suggest a real possibility of creating healthy tissue. At the same time, many of them focus on specific details and fundamental science. Grafts exhibit a wide range of mechanical properties, mostly because of polymer types and graft morphology. Moreover, most of the research ends at the in vitro stage, using non-certificated polymers, thus requiring a long time before the medical device can be placed on the market. In addition to scientific concerns, official regulations limit the immediate introduction of artificial grafts onto the market.

The essence and characteristics of compliance: definition, functions, goals, ethical foundations, place in the organizational structure of the enterprise

Introduction. The paper examines compliance as an integral part of the organization that ensures compliance with internal and external rules and norms in it, as well as the place of compliance, its functions and goals in the enterprise. The importance of understanding the essence and ensuring the functioning of compliance at the enterprise and ways of preventing and detecting its violations, the ethical foundations of compliance and its place in the structure of the enterprise are studied. The experience and history of the development of compliance are considered on the example of real situations with international companies and the influence of these situations on the formation of the system of introducing compliance in organizations. The purpose of the paper is to consider and describe compliance as one of the functional components during the organization's activities, as well as to provide a description of its definition, functions, goals, ethical foundations and place in the organizational structure. Results. Compliance in the general sense is a set of processes that ensure compliance with internal rules of conduct in the organization, as well as external rules and regulations. Understanding the essence and making compliance work helps companies prevent and detect violations. If the company uses and attracts resources from other parties – from investors, creditors, donors – it is necessary to be able to assure them that the behavior of employees and compliance with applicable rules and regulations are monitored and supported, and not allowed to flow. Without effective compliance, it is impossible to reliably build or maintain trust with others. Trust develops through three elements: repeated interactions, honest communication, and commitment. Organizations cannot ensure that the second and third elements are fulfilled unless they have adopted rules of good communication and good performance. Compliance focuses on what behavior will and will not be permitted while accomplishing the tasks and objectives. Without a compliance function, decisions are random and made in a vacuum. That is why it is so important to understand the essence of compliance as such and its main indicators. Conclusions. The main practice of implementation of compliance and its development comes from abroad, where the consequences of significant violations led to regulation of compliance at the level of the entire country and had a gradual impact not only on local industries and organizations, but also on the geographical expansion of regulatory means. At domestic enterprises, if compliance exists in certain general rules and regulations, in many cases it still does not have an official status and regulations that would regulate and determine its place in the organization. Therefore, the following studies can be devoted to the issue of the development of perception and proper implementation of compliance by Ukrainian companies.

COVID-19 Continues to Burden General Practitioners: Impact on Workload, Provision of Care, and Intention to Leave.

General practitioners (GPs), already in a profession with a high workload, have been at the frontline of providing COVID-19-related healthcare in addition to routine care. Our study examined the impact of pandemic-related consultations and changes in practice organization on GPs' current workload and provision of healthcare in summer 2021 (May 2021-July 2021) and early 2022 (January 2022-February 2022). In total, 143 German GPs participated in an online survey in the summer of 2021. Of these, 51 GPs participated in the follow-up survey in 2022. Most GPs perceived an increase in consultation frequency, consultation times, and workload since the pandemic outbreak. Increased consultation times were related to the reduced provision of medical care to other patients with chronic diseases. More SARS-CoV-2 vaccination consultations were associated with reduced home visits, acute consultation times, and cancer screenings. A quarter of GPs considered leaving their job. Pandemic-related bureaucracy, restricted access to therapy and rehabilitation services specialized on COVID-19, unreliable vaccine deliveries, mandatory telematics-infrastructure implementation, and frequent changes in official regulations were the main reasons reported for dissatisfaction. Our results provide insights into how the pandemic continues to burden GPs' work routines and how better working conditions in times of high demand could be achieved in future pandemics.

Exploring Justice in the Process of Redesigning Local Development Strategies for LEADER: Representation, Distribution, and Recognition

After its first funding period from 1991 to 1994, LEADER was positively evaluated as a successful strategy to empower actors at the regional level, enable regional development and contribute to territorial cohesion within the European Union. Critical studies, however, have highlighted elitist tendencies in LEADER processes and asked whether the proclaimed goal of strengthening ‘the local’ contributes to new or other forms of social and spatial injustice. Our research focus lies in how representation, distribution, and recognition—as the three interrelated dimensions of justice according to Nancy Fraser—are featured in the discourse related to redesigning a local development strategy (LDS). During this process, which is conceived as the most open and inclusive phase in each LEADER funding period, we conducted expert interviews and participatory observations in a case study region and gathered media reports, documents, and official regulations. In our analysis of issues of representation, distribution, and recognition, we also focus on the spatial scales that are referred to and the ways in which the involved actors challenge and justify the status quo. Our analysis explicates the actors’ implicit normative understandings as well as their different perspectives and positions considering perceived injustice. Even though the LDS process provides opportunities to negotiate these positions and to work towards more just representation, distribution, and recognition, they are partly constrained by structural and individual dependencies.

Socialist Egalitarianism in Everyday Life of Secondary Technical Schools in Czechoslovakia during the Normalization Period (1969–89)

This article focuses on the realization of official government regulations of egalitarianism policy in secondary technical schools, especially on the informal practice that was “quietly” tolerated by the communist regime. The research is based on the historiographical approach of the history of everyday life. The primary research method is the oral history method based on interviews with witnesses—teachers who worked at secondary technical schools in the period under review. Research using the oral history method is further supplemented by the study of period legislation, periodicals, and the study of archival materials obtained in the National Archives in Prague and the Brno City Archives. The study provides a unique illustration of the application of the policy of egalitarianism in the everyday life of secondary technical schools in the normalization period in Czechoslovakia. In particular, the witnesses’ recollections reveal a practice toward some students that went beyond government regulations and influenced their studies in various ways, including admission procedures, dealing with disciplinary offenses, graduation, and obtaining a school-leaving certificate.

Feed Supplementation Detection during the Last Productive Stage of the Acorn-Fed Iberian Pig through a Faecal Volatilome Analysis.

The acorn-fed Iberian pig is known worldwide due to the quality of the resulting products commercialized after a natural and free grazing period of fattening in the dehesa agroforestry ecosystem. The quality regulation of the pig breed reserves "acorn" denomination for only those products obtained from animals exclusively fed grazing acorns and other natural resources; however, sometimes, feed supplementation of the pig's diet is fraudulently employed to reach an earlier slaughtering weight and to increase pig stocking rate, a strategy called postre (meaning "feed supplement"). In this sense, although many studies focused on Iberian pig diet have been published, the field detection of feed use for acorn-fed pig during the last finishing stage foraging in the dehesa, a practice which clashes with the official regulation, has not been explored yet. The present study employs a volatilome analysis (gas chromatography coupled to ion mobility spectrometry) of a non-invasive biological sample (faeces) to discriminate the grazing diet of only natural resources, that acorn-fed Iberian pigs are supposed to have, from those pigs that are also supplemented with feed. The results obtained show the suitability of the methodology used and the usefulness of the information obtained from faeces samples to discriminate and detect the fraudulent use of feed for acorn-fed Iberian pig fattening: a classification success ranging between 86.4% and 100% was obtained for the two chemometric approaches evaluated. These, together with the results of discriminant models, are discussed, in addition to the importance that the methodology optimized implies for the Iberian pig sector and market, which is also introduced. This methodology could be adapted to control organic farming animals or other upstanding livestock production systems which are supposed to be fully dependent on a natural grazing diet.

The Place of E-Government in the Public Administration System

This article examines the place of e-government in the system of public administration. The topic's relevance is due to the universal digitalization of public relations, including the sphere of public administration. E-government is a new format of interaction between the state and society based on the use of modern information and communication technologies, which needs theoretical justification. The methods of scientific analysis and synthesis, deduction, and induction, as well as methods of description, comparison, and analysis of secondary data, are used in the work. The article reflects on the issue of the development of e-government in Russia. The object of this study is the social relations that arise during the creation and functioning of the e-government system. The author formulates the conclusion that e-government in the Russian Federation is in continuous development and is also an important tool for the development of the digital economy, which requires a revision of the digital skills of civil servants. At the moment, there is already a trend toward training personnel for digital public administration. It is revealed that in the Russian Federation, e-government, which is an important tool for the development of the digital economy, is in continuous development. There is already a tendency to transition to electronic records. To get the maximum benefit from digital transformations in public administration, a new approach to the formation of the competencies of a modern civil servant is required because the lack of the necessary level of training can serve as a serious barrier to improving the efficiency of public administration. Information technologies are dynamic and rapidly undergoing changes. As a result, the existing requirements for civil servants cease to be relevant in the period of digital transformation. The legislation of the Russian Federation defines that the requirements for the knowledge, skills, and skills of civil servants are established by official regulations. Therefore, the competence model should be adapted for each specific position, taking into account the specifics of the activities of the authority.

Toward the Non-Targeted Detection of Adulterated Virgin Olive Oil with Edible Oils via FTIR Spectroscopy & Chemometrics: Research Methodology Trends, Gaps and Future Perspectives.

Fourier-Transform mid-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy offers a strong candidate screening tool for rapid, non-destructive and early detection of unauthorized virgin olive oil blends with other edible oils. Potential applications to the official anti-fraud control are supported by dozens of research articles with a "proof-of-concept" study approach through different chemometric workflows for comprehensive spectral analysis. It may also assist non-targeted authenticity testing, an emerging goal for modern food fraud inspection systems. Hence, FTIR-based methods need to be standardized and validated to be accepted by the olive industry and official regulators. Thus far, several literature reviews evaluated the competence of FTIR standalone or compared with other vibrational techniques only in view of the chemometric methodology, regardless of the inherent characteristics of the product spectra or the application scope. Regarding authenticity testing, every step of the methodology workflow, and not only the post-acquisition steps, need thorough validation. In this context, the present review investigates the progress in the research methodology on FTIR-based detection of virgin olive oil adulteration over a period of more than 25 years with the aim to capture the trends, identify gaps or misuses in the existing literature and highlight intriguing topics for future studies. An extensive search in Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar, combined with bibliometric analysis, helped to extract qualitative and quantitative information from publication sources. Our findings verified that intercomparison of literature results is often impossible; sampling design, FTIR spectral acquisition and performance evaluation are critical methodological issues that need more specific guidance and criteria for application to product authenticity testing.

Normative regulation of local government officials’ responsibility in the Russian unified system of public authority

The issues of legal regulation of the constitutional and legal structure “unified system of public power” have been the subject of scientific research and discussion for a long time. On the one hand, this is facilitated by the updated text of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, in which this category found its original place; on the other hand, the adoption of several federal laws aimed at forming the structure and content of a unified system of public power, which have not yet been fully investigated and provide “food for thought” for research papers, books, and dissertations. At the same time, the issues of forming the legal basis for the responsibility of bodies and their officials within the framework of a unified system of public authority have not yet found their sufficient attention and level of development. The issues of legal regulation of the responsibility of individual bodies and officials of local self-government, which are part of the unified system of public authority, are no exception. Within the framework of this study, the author conducts a critical analysis of certain provisions of the Russian Federal Law No. 414-FZ of December 21, 2021 “On general principles of the organization of public power in the subjects of the Russian Federation” in terms of empowering the highest official of a RF subject to apply liability measures (warning, severe reprimand, and dismissal from office) to the head of a municipality and the head of a local the results of which indicate a number of “negative” aspects of legislative regulation, which in their essence do not correlate with the provisions of the current municipal legal legislation regulating the constitutional and sectoral foundations of local self-government, and they contradict the achievements of the modern doctrine of municipal law as a complex branch of Russian law, which is the basic scientific basis for the development of local self-government in Russia. The methodological basis of the research methodology was the dialectical method, analysis and synthesis, formal-legal, comparative-legal, historical-legal, and predictive methods, as well as the modeling method.

Making food waste illegal in Sweden – Potential gains from enforcing best practice in the public catering sector

Food waste is an inefficiency problem that needs to be reduced significantly to achieve a sustainable food system. Best practices and knowledge are available on how to reduce waste but large volumes of food are still wasted every year, so policies that support or enforce broader implementation of best practices are needed. One policy that could be used to push implementation and successful use of best practices to reduce food waste is the Swedish Environmental Code, which states that all actors must consider every possibility to reduce the amount of waste generated in any facility, unless this is unreasonably expensive. However, there is no clear definition on the actual waste reduction needed to comply with this requirement, so it is not enforced in practice. This study explored the potential gains of applying the Environmental Code, potential benchmarking thresholds for illegal levels of food waste and best voluntary practices that can achieve low levels of food waste. The Environmental Code is applicable to most operator food handling systems, and was assessed here using the Swedish public catering sector as a case. All 290 Swedish municipalities were asked to provide raw data for the study and some agreed, resulting in a dataset covering 458 public catering units serving care homes, schools and preschools. The data were analysed to identify different permissible levels of food waste, while the best canteens provided information on their best practices to keep food waste low. The results showed that with best voluntary practice for each type of catering unit, overall food waste would be reduced by up to 76 %. Best voluntary practices used by the best-performing canteens were identified as: ‘reusing buffet leftovers’, ‘adjusting recipes based on previous consumption’, ‘advising guests to start with small tasting portions’, ‘setting goals for waste reduction’ and ‘serving smaller volumes in buffet containers and refilling more often’. All these actions can realistically be implemented as standard practices by public catering organisations. The present analysis could not confirm that all these actions have actually been implemented, or to what extent, but practical implementation of identified best voluntary practices meeting stated benchmarks is recommended. The Environmental Code is technology-neutral and goal-oriented and participating food business operators are not forced by law or official regulations to introduce resource-saving measures, but this study shows that some measures can lead to a large reduction in food waste. The study does not show whether harsh, i.e. costly, measures can be enforced on businesses, which can only be determined by case law (court practice). However, in the specific cases in this study, measures that could have been enforced based on the Environmental Code would have led to at least 76 % reduction in food waste. This would be a major step towards a sustainable food system.

The Impact of Social Influence, Product Knowledge, and Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) towards Purchase Intention on Alcoholic Beverage in Bali

Based on the enactment of official government regulations in Governor Regulation No. 1 of 2020 concerning the Governance of Balinese Fermented and Distilled Drinks, arak Bali has started to appear publicly. It brings many advantages for the Balinese, especially in the business of fermented drink production. However, it is still unknown about consumer behavior regarding the interest in arak Bali, especially among Balinese people who live socially. The research aimed to determine the effect of social influence, product knowledge, and Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) on purchase intention in arak Bali. The population used was millennials and Generation Z in Denpasar City who had looked for information and consumed arak Bali. The amount of sample used was 153 respondents. Then, data analysis model used the Structural Equation Model (SEM) with AMOS 24. Based on the results of data processing with AMOS 24, it can be concluded that there is a significant and positive effect of social influence on purchase intention, product knowledge on purchase intention, social influence on FOMO, and product knowledge on FOMO. Meanwhile, FOMO has no significant but positive effect on purchase intention. It is known that the effect of product knowledge on purchase intention has the greatest influence and value in the research.

Penentuan Status Penularan COVID-19 di Jawa Timur Menggunakan Metode Fuzzy Tsukamoto

The COVID-19 pandemic is not over, the Coronavirus Disease 19 Pandemic due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus is spreading very quickly in almost every country in the world because of its human-to-human nature. The COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia was detected in Depok, West Java on March 2, 2020. To deal with this, the government must decide on an efficient policy by observing the atmosphere and situation in each region. The way is through determining the risk status of COVID-19 transmission in an area in order to break the chain of transmission of COVID-19. In Indonesia, it is up to each local government to determine the risk status of Covid-19 transmission at the regional level. This has led to subjective evaluations by local leaders and introduced many unclear definitions and boundaries when determining the risk status of COVID-19 transmission. This is the reason behind this research, where the Tsukamoto Algorithm mathematical calculation form is based on the official variables and regulations in the area concerned in determining the risk status of COVID-19 transmission. The data used is the daily data for COVID-19 districts or cities in East Java. The data used are 38 district or city data groups consisting of 4 variables. The input variables are COVID-19 positive cases, Supek cases, and Probabe cases, and each variable is defined as 3 fuzzy sets, namely Low, Medium, and High. The output variables are defined in 4 fuzzy sets regarding the Risk Status for COVID-19 Transmission, such as the East Java Government regulations, namely the status of green, yellow, orange, and red. All variables use membership function of triangular curve representation. How to analyze data using the SPK-COVID application using the Codeigniter Framework. The success of the estimation form of the percentage of conformity status generated by comparing the results of the Tsukamoto Algorithm analysis with real COVID-19 transmission risk status data. After doing 4 repetitions of the analysis, in which each analysis tries to change the area in the fuzzy set, we get a structure with a percentage of status conformity that is usually 95.51%, on data from 38 districts or cities in East Java.