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The livestock sector contributes significantly to the Brazilian economy, but also creates many environmental and social issues. To mitigate these problems and help counteract the effects of the growing production demand, it is essential to address the prevention of food loss and waste (FLW). Therefore, the aim of the present study is to identify the causes of FLW, model their interrelationships and determine their root causes for the Brazilian beef supply chain (SC).

16 causes are analysed using an integrated interpretive structural modelling (ISM) and matrix impact of cross-multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) methodology. ISM identified interrelationships among the causes and MICMAC determined the root causes of FLW.

The ISM highlights the “Lack of transportation infrastructures”, “Inadequate handling”, “Poor operational performance”, “Variety of products available in supermarkets” and “Unhealthy animals and outbreaks of disease” as the most influential causes and the MICMAC classifies them as the root causes of FLW in the Brazilian beef SC.

The results provide fundamental insights for researchers, practitioners and policymakers, by exploring which causes are more influential and which are the root causes, thereby assisting the SC members in the definition of suitable strategies to mitigate FLW.

This is the first empirical analysis of the interdependencies between the causes of FLW in the beef SC.

The study aims to identify and evaluate relevant criteria in the proposal and support of public administration policies for preventive maintenance comprised in a conservation approach to built heritage and aligned with local sustainable development of the historic center of the city of Sobral, in Brazil.

A novel multicriteria decision model adopting the Bayesian best-worst method is presented and its application and results are described. Though a systematic procedure, criteria were selected in order to protect the tangible and intangible values of cultural heritage, as well as its sustainable development. Then experts evaluate these criteria through an elicitation instrument.

The results show that for the decision problem over preventive maintenance, social contribution and historical record of built heritage are more important than its structural vulnerability, while architecture is less relevant. Due to the low restrictions, the subcriterion related to this property has the least influence. The weights can assist in the characterization of measures and policies for the protection of the built cultural heritage.

The use of a novel decision-making method in cultural heritage is an important initiative, given the frequent use of simple and inefficient methods. The identified and weighted criteria are important data to characterize the scenario and the topic. The results contribute to protection and development of the built heritage, encouraging the implementation of preventive conservation in the historic center, conferring to the public administration valuable information to support and propose initiatives.

Nowadays, the higher education sector has to deal with a scope of strategic issues that goes beyond the management of curricular processes and training courses. The growing competitiveness of the sector has led higher education institutions to give more attention to the marketing field. In fact, higher education institutions can be seen as brands and students as real consumers. Emotional marketing and its techniques, in particular, represent a range of opportunities for universities to strengthen their brands and their connection with the students. In this study, it is suggested that the aspects of attachment can be analyzed in the context of higher education as it aims to provide important insights for the success of university brands in a long-term perspective. Attachment has a relation with satisfaction, commitment, trust and loyalty. These aspects are relevant for universities especially since the relationship higher education institutions maintain with their students in the present and future depends, in certain part, on their degree of attachment and sense of belonging.

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent of empathy in paramedic students across seven Australian universities.

A cross‐sectional study was carried out using a paper‐based questionnaire employing a convenience sample of first, second, and third year undergraduate paramedic students. Student empathy levels were measured using a standardised self‐reporting instrument: the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy‐Health Profession Students (JSPE‐HPS).

A total of 783 students participated in the study, of which 57 per cent were females. The overall JSPE‐HPS mean score was 106.74 (SD=14.8). Females had greater mean empathy scores than males 108.69 v 103.58 (p=0.042). First year undergraduate paramedic mean empathy levels were the lowest, 106.29 (SD=15.40) with second year's the highest at 107.17 (SD=14.90).

The overall findings provide a framework for educators to begin constructing guidelines focusing on the need to incorporate, promote and instil empathy into paramedic students in order to better prepare them for future out‐of‐hospital healthcare practice.

Listening to and considering children's voices shows respectful regard for children's needs, interests and experiences, and helps discern what is meaningful for them in a particular subject or situation. Creating opportunities for the expression of children's voices implies child-centred practice: recognising children as active agents, with evolving competences and capacity to understand, think and choose with some degree of autonomy, thus being able to influence decision-making. Therefore, the commitment to listen to children's voices represents a fundamental step towards empowering children and supporting their participation rights. Importantly, children have the right to be heard and to have their voices considered from the earliest ages, in their significant relational contexts, such as early childhood education and care (ECEC). Listening to and valuing children's multiple voices in ECEC can be done in many ways, ensuring the context, children's background, characteristics and preferences are respected. In this chapter, we address the specificities of listening to children's voices and taking them into account in ECEC. We discuss common challenges that may prevent the full expression and consideration of children's voices, and ways to overcome them, to ensure children's meaningful participation in what matters to them and support them in becoming active citizens in society.

One way to increase the availability and to add more value to exotic Brazilian fruits is to develop new products. However, prior to product development, there is a need to know consumer’s preferences and target audience. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of different characteristics of Cerrado fruit preserves on the intention to purchase using conjoint analysis.

Conjoint analysis evaluated three factors with three levels each, defined by focus group technique. The attributes and levels evaluated were: flavor (marolo, marolo and soursoup, marolo, soursoup and sweet passion fruit), nutritional information (light, diet and absent) and health claims (aids reduction of cardiovascular disease risk; aids reduction of blood cholesterol; aids activation and regulation of the gastrointestinal system).

The results of conjoint analysis led to three consumers’ groups. Group 1 (majority) were more influenced by flavor (IR=26.5 percent) and nutritional information (IR=59.3 percent). Groups 2 and 3 were greatly influenced by flavor and nutritional information, respectively. Health claims influenced weakly on the intention to purchase regardless the groups. Thus, the concept of Cerrado fruit preserves for each group was different.

This research contributes to future studies, supporting the development of products based on Cerrado fruits and the variety of products on the market. There are few research works using conjoint analysis to evaluate consumer preferences in the early stages of new product development, which makes this paper even more relevant.