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This study provides an empirical assessment of the antecedents and outcomes of Environmental Supply Chain Management within the UK food industry. Sustainability has emerged as an important issue within the Operations and Supply Chain Management fields in recent years. The objective of this study is to contribute to the new and emerging field of Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) by considering some of its key recurring themes. An extensive literature review in chapter two highlights three key issues requiring further attention namely, environmental response (proactive or reactive), the role of stakeholder pressure and the performance outcomes of SSCM. On the back of this literature review, chapter three identifies a series of research questions in need of investigation and sets out a theoretical model for the task. Data was gathered from a sample of 1200 food manufacturing firms within the UK, generating a response rate of 12.4%. This data was then analysed using ,multiple regression analysis. The key findings were: (1) a proactive approach to environmental management is associated with a number of different environmental practices both internally and at the supply chain level; (2) firms mostly appear to be motivated to implement these practices as a result of their internalised commitment to the environment rather than due to external pressure from different stakeholder groups. Lastly, there was some evidence to suggest that environmental performance might benefit as a result of environmental management, however, improvements do not appear to penetrate to the level of operational performance. These findings contribute to existing research and thus help to further the development of the SSCM field.

Drosophila melanogaster has been an important model organism for over a century, cumulating in a vast array of mutant and transgenic stocks, the publication of the genome, its subsequent annotation and more recently the production of the online gene expression database, FlyAtlas. Much of what we know about developmental biology was pioneered in Drosophila and it is possibly the most well studied and understood model organism, in terms of development, genetics and physiology. The so-called ‘omics’ era of biology has resulted in a relatively data poor discipline quickly becoming a data rich one. Therefore the need for a good model organism, which offers the balance between genetic power and relevance has never been more important, as scientists begin to evaluate and analysis this data. We will argue that Drosophila melanogaster offers the best opportunity to study the relevance of omics data. FlyAtlas is an online resource, which allows scientists to look at tissue specific gene expression in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Unexpected expression patterns of previously characterised genes may hint at novel functions, thus helping to close the phenotype gap. To test this hypothesis we looked at the neuronal gene Fasciclin 2 (fas2), which has been exhaustively characterised (over 500 papers), with neural functions ranging from axonal growth in development to synapse stabilization in the adult. Surprisingly FlyAtlas showed fas2 is predominately expressed in the Malpighian tubule (a renal, rather than neural, tissue), hinting at a previously unreported function in this tissue. Results suggest fas2 may play an important role in apical microvilli development and stability in the principal cells of the tubules. We have also shown that Fas2 may be involved in actin localisation. Fas2 shows dynamic localisation in response to cAMP and over expression of the protein results in a significant increase in secretion when tubules are stimulated with cAMP. We also present evidence that Fas2 co-localises with F-Actin bundles in response to cAMP, hinting at a role for the actin cytoskeleton in secretion. Proteomics experiments carried out in order to determine Fas2’s, interacting partners proved problematic. For this reason 2D Blue Native PAGE and sucrose gradient techniques were optimised in order to facilitate this problem. 4 Unfortunately we were unable to isolate Fas2, however we have shown that BN-PAGE offers a robust protocol for the isolation of protein/protein complexes. We can also conclude from these experiments that 2D BN-PAGE offers an ideal comparative data source for transcriptomics data such as FlyAtlas. The second gene tested in this study is the sex determination transcription factor Doublesex (dsx). Dsx has been extensively studied in its role in differentiation of both the soma and to some extent the nervous system in males and females. FlyAtlas results indicate that it is also expressed in the Malpighian tubules, again hinting at previously unknown function in this tissue. Further to this the male and female transcripts of dsx are expressed in a sex specific manner. Our results confirm these observations and dsx was localised to the principal cells of the main and lower segments of the tubules. Male tubules however do not express dsx in the transitional segment whereas females do, suggesting that perhaps this segment of the tubule constitutes a previously unknown sex specific function. We have determined that Tra RNAi is effective at knocking down the female transcript in female tubules, allowing for the study of masculinised tubules in an otherwise female fly. Experiments concluded that although males and females show differential survival in response to bacterial infection, this is not controlled by dsx expression in the tubules. Preliminary results also suggest that two genes CG8719 and YP3 are differentially expressed in male and female tubules and offer ideal candidates to study dsx role in sexually dimorphic gene expression in the tubules. In conclusion this study verifies the use of FlyAtlas to determine novel functions for well-known genes in D.melanogaster. In turn this indicates the importance of omics data, as a staring point for further functional analysis of both genes and proteins.

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine graduate counseling students' self-perceived counseling competency with lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) clients using the Sexual Orientation Counselor Competency Scale (SOCCS; Bidell, 2005). In addition, participants' self-perceived competency levels were examined across gender, degree program (counselor education, counseling psychology), training level (master's, doctoral), additional training experiences, and the number of LGB-identified clients seen in practica. A secondary purpose of this study was to explore participants' concerns regarding their development of counseling competency with LGB clients, as well as to identify life experiences (i.e., personal and professional) that have been beneficial in preparation to counsel LGB clients using qualitative methods. The sample included two hundred and thirty-five graduate students enrolled in counselor education and counseling psychology programs in the United States. Simple linear regressions and mixed ANOVAs were used to statistically analyze the quantitative data. Emergent coding was used to describe the participants' responses to the three qualitative questions. The results of this study suggested that participants' felt moderately competent in counseling LGB clients when assessed on the SOCCS. When looking across the SOCCS subscales of knowledge, skills, and awareness, they felt the least competent in their skills and most competent in their awareness of LGB issues. Although gender differences were not found, significant differences were found when examining self-perceived competency levels across program level (i.e., doctoral-level participants had greater competency levels) and program type. (i.e., counseling psychology students had greater competency levels). A significant relationship was also found between attendance at a workshop dedicated to counseling LGB clients and a general training session on LGB issues and self-perceived competency levels, suggesting that additional training influenced participants' overall perceived competency, as well as on the specific knowledge, skills, and awareness competencies. Moreover, the number of LGB clients seen in therapy was significantly related to self-perceived competency levels, with participants who had worked with zero clients having lower scores on the knowledge, skills, and awareness subscales than all other participants. Finally, as hypothesized, the number of LGB clients seen in therapy predicted self-perceived competency levels and accounted for a significant amount of the variance in overall self-perceived competency levels, as well as on the skills subscale. The qualitative results supported the above findings, particularly related to the importance of working with LGB clients on participants' development of self-perceived counseling competency with LGB clients, as well as the need for additional training on working with LGB clients in their current training programs. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]