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Purpose – While global wine consumption is growing, environmental sustainability in the wine industry is also receiving increased attention from retailers, governments, environmental groups, and consumers. New Zealand has experienced a winery boom over the past two decades with a 173 per cent increase in the number of wineries. Along with this growth, wineries are also facing issues such as water consumption, its impact on community, and waste management. The study therefore seeks to examine: the current sustainability initiatives undertaken by wineries; what drives the wine industry to engage in sustainable practices; and barriers to implementing sustainable practices. Design/methodology/approach – Using a mixed method research approach, this study uses a triangulated approach to examine interviews and questionnaires to determine motivations and elements of influence. Findings – This study found that the strong drivers for the sustainability initiatives are their concern about the state of the environment and social responsibility, followed by requirements for exporting and protection of agricultural land. Research limitations/implications – A limitation of this study was a low response rate from the online questionnaire, which may influence or bias study results. However, detailed face-to-face interviews help to gain clarification on concepts and study results. Practical implications – While global wine consumption is growing, environmental sustainability in the wine industry is also receiving increasing attention from retailers, governments, environmental groups and consumers. New Zealand has experienced a winery boom over the past two decades with a 173 per cent increase in the number of wineries. Along with this growth, wineries are also facing issues such as water consumption, its impact on community, and waste management. Originality/value – Although there are many studies about the wine industry, relatively few studies have examined sustainability elements from a mixed-method approach to determine practical elements which may influence practices undertaken. It also examines practices undertaken by wineries, barriers to implementation and incentives to further implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased androgen receptor (AR) levels are associated with prostate cancer progression to androgen independence and therapy resistance. Evidence has suggested that chronic inflammation is closely linked to various cancers including prostate cancer. Herein we show that the proinflammatory cytokine TNFalpha negatively regulates AR mRNA and protein expression and reduces androgen sensitivity in androgen-dependent LNCaP human prostate cancer cells. Decreased AR expression results from transcription repression involving essential in cis interaction of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) with the B-myb transcription factor at a composite genomic element in the 5'-untranslated region of AR. The negative regulation was abrogated when NF-kappaB activity was inhibited by a superrepressor of the inhibitory kappaB protein. In contrast, androgen-independent C4-2 (LNCaP-derived) cells fail to show AR down-regulation by TNFalpha, despite expression of B-myb and TNFalpha-induced NF-kappaB activity similar to that in LNCaP cells. The negatively regulated AR gene chromatin region showed TNFalpha-dependent enrichment of B-myb and the NF-kappaB proteins p65 and p50. In parallel, the histone deacetylase 1, corepressor silencing mediator of retinoid and thyroid hormone receptor and the corepressor-associated scaffold protein mSin3A were recruited to the inhibitory site. In C4-2 cells, neither NF-kappaB and B-myb, nor any of the corepressor components, were detected at the negative site in response to TNFalpha. Apoptosis was induced in TNFalpha-treated LNCaP cells, likely in part due to the down-regulation of AR. The androgen-independent, AR-expressing C4-2 and C4-2B (derived from C4-2) cells were resistant to TNFalpha-induced apoptosis. The results linking androgen dependence to the NF-kappaB and AR pathways may be insightful in identifying novel treatment targets for prostate cancer.