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Recent regulatory initiatives, such as the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive and the UK Companies Act, require companies to mobilise the business model concept as a framework to disclose non-financial information in the annual report. These regulatory initiatives are based on a reflexive legal approach that avoids specifying what should be disclosed or articulating minimum disclosure requirements. In this context, this study investigates whether and to what extent preparers and users of non-financial information have a shared understanding of the business model concept and its role in reporting. An exploratory survey was conducted involving 35 users and 13 preparers, followed by 13 in-depth interviews, with both stages of research conducted from Searle's perspective of institutional reality. The findings present a somewhat divergent picture, indicating a lack of widespread consensus around a specific definition of a business model, its constitutive elements, and its reporting function. Thus, we conclude that the business model remains a concept under social construction in this domain and highlights areas of intervention. This study contributes to the existing literature by discussing how the absence of a common definition might hinder the otherwise positive effects of business model disclosure regulation from enhancing corporate transparency. Archival studies on business model reporting generally show low levels of disclosure, indicating poor informativeness. Our evidence adds to the accounting literature by considering the role of a shared view of the business model among market participants as a determinant of business model reporting quality and informativeness.

This study examines the quality of non-financial disclosure in Strategic Reports, focusing on non-financial key performance indicators (NFKPIs). A vital issue for NFKPI disclosure quality deals with overtime comparability. As NFKPI disclosure is mainly based on managers’ discretional choices regarding which indicators to disclose and how, we argue that corporate governance could play a key role in affecting disclosure practices. The analysis of a sample of UK listed companies from different industries reveals that most companies consistently report NFKPIs and that disclosure practices are influenced by the quality of the board of directors. Additional analyses indicate that among board characteristics, experience in financial key roles is the most effective. Further, intangible intensity is found to be positively associated with NFKPI consistency. Finally, more leveraged and less profitable firms seem to pay more attention to disclosure consistency, supporting the argument that they are subject to more severe scrutiny. This study is the first to examine the relationship between governance quality and NFKPI consistency. It enlarges previous evidence on the relation between corporate governance and disclosure by supporting the role of the board of directors in monitoring non-financial reporting.

immigrant women diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have additional language and cultural obstacles in following lifestyle and dietary recommendations within a Western health care setting.to describe: • sociodemographic characteristics and dietary and lifestyle behaviours in Italian and immigrant pregnant women who underwent a GDM screening; • any differences in these aspects among GDM Italian and immigrant women; • any differences in terms of primary maternal-neonatal outcomes among GDM and normal glucose tolerance (NGT) cohorts.survey.this survey was conducted in three hospitals located in Tuscany Region (Central Italy). According to a convenience sampling, an ad hoc questionnaire was administered both to Italian and immigrant women who underwent an oral glucose tolerance test.information about nutrition and lifestyle, medical and obstetric history, clinical and therapy data, maternal and neonatal primary outcomes was analysed. Eating habits have been investigated referring to the prudent diet, in order to also include those foods specifically consumed by the immigrant women, in addition to the Mediterranean Diet which is more widespread among Italians.a total of 117 Italian women (42 diagnosed with GDM) and 95 immigrant women (36 with GDM) were enrolled. Immigrant women showed lower adherence to the prudent diet compared to Italian women (p0.05) and a broader use of unhealthy food preparation (e.g., frying; p0.05). Primary maternal and neonatal outcomes (preterm birth, caesarean section, macrosomia) showed no statistical differences among GDM and NGT cohorts.even if immigrant and Italian women gained similar pregnancy outcomes, immigrant women showed lower adherence to the prudent diet at the time of GDM screening. An ethnic and tailored meal plan is needed to overcome cultural barriers in dietary recommendations during pregnancy in immigrant women.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to extend existing knowledge on the determinants of sustainability report (SR) assurance practices. Four different theories – stakeholder theory, institutional theory, signaling theory and legitimacy theory – are used to formulate several hypotheses regarding the main factors that can influence a company’s decision to assure its SRs. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of 417 listed organizations based in different European countries over five years, the effects of stakeholder commitment, country orientation toward sustainability, firm environmental performance and business ethics controversies on the decision to assure SRs are assessed. Findings The results show that a company’s decision to assure its SRs is motivated by the need to maintain good relations with its stakeholders (which is in line with stakeholder theory and legitimacy theory), as well as by the willingness to signal their sustainability performance (which is in line with signaling theory) and to gain legitimacy. On the contrary, business ethics controversies do not seem to be relevant to a company’s assurance practices. Originality/value This paper provides new insights into the influence that social, environmental and institutional factors have on assurance strategies. New factors that previous research does not investigate – environmental performance, business ethics controversies and corporate governance – are tested. Factors that are already investigated in the literature are considered from an original perspective of introducing alternative measures (e.g. for the scope of national sustainability policies).

This paper uses some major contributions from accounting institutional theory to discuss the process of convergence toward IFRS. Our analysis identifies the most influential institutions and the complex networks of relationships among institutions, offering a valuable contribution to a better understanding of the current state of diffusion of IFRS around the world and the current progress of the convergence process. We identify the different roles of some main institutions, grouping them into three categories and highlighting their main interactions in different contexts. We place global and international institutions such as IOSCO, EU and other international agencies such as the World Bank into the first category, since they have fostered the initial phase of the convergence process. Secondly, we find that the presence of institutions such as local government and standard setters, which play an intermediary role, mediates between the need to guarantee the implementation of the standards and the need to preserve pre-existing equilibria. Finally, we discuss the role played by the end-users of the standards. Our analysis shows that these institutions are the most critical forces. In fact, in the absence of a structured, led program that orients these forces toward IFRS, the convergence process could result in the proliferation of local systems of standards, increasing the risk that harmonisation is achieved only in name.

Snodo cruciale dei Corsi di Laurea professionalizzanti in servizio socia- le, i tirocini sono stati interrotti nei mesi del lockdown e pesantemente ral- lentati successivamente. In questa congiuntura avversa, sono state sviluppate iniziative non convenzionali, alcune delle quali potenzialmente innovative. L’articolo si concentra sull’esperienza toscana (aprile 2020/febbraio 2021), analizzandola con riferimento al dibattito teorico-metodologico sul tirocinio e nel contesto delle sfide poste dall’emergenza sanitaria. L’articolo contri- buisce alla stabilizzazione della sperimentazione oltre la fase di emergenza, al trasferimento della pratica e più generalmente al rinnovato dibattito sulla formazione a distanza in servizio sociale. The internships in social work – a key-activity of the Degree Programs all over the world – have been suspended in the lockdown period and then slowened down. Several unconventional initiatives have been developed to cope with this adverse conjuncture. This article focuses on the Tuscan experience (April 2020/February 2021) which is analyzed within the debate on field education and the challenges of pandemic. The article contributes to stabilize the sperimentation beyond the emergency phase, to transfer the Tuscan practice and more generally to develop the debate on distance education in social work.

The implementation of the EU Directive on non‐financial information determines the transition from a voluntary to a mandatory disclosure setting. This paper is a first attempt to investigate if this transition influences the value relevance of non‐financial information, which relates to the environmental, social and governance disclosure (ESG) requirements of the Directive. Italy provides an interesting setting as non‐financial information was generally voluntary before the Directive, which was implemented with the Italian Legislative Decree 254/2016. To this extent, we examine the non‐financial, environmental and social disclosure practices of 231 Italian listed firms in the pre‐ (2016) and post‐ (2017) Legislative Decree application. Our results do not show any relevant increase of such disclosures after the Legislative Decree application, as Italian listed firms limit such disclosure to a minimum requirement. Further, this finding is confirmed also for those firms voluntarily providing a non‐financial report (sustainability or integrated report) before the Legislative Decree application. Our regression analysis shows that accounting numbers are associated with share prices, while non‐financial, environmental and social information are not value‐relevant with reference to the pre‐ and post‐Legislative Decree application. This means that the non‐financial, environmental and social information beyond the financial accounting information do not explain any incremental value‐relevant information to investors in the non‐financial mandatory disclosure setting required by the new regulation. Our results enrich previous evidence concerning the value relevance of non‐financial and ESG disclosure mainly focused on Anglo‐Saxon contexts.

Amid growing environmental concerns, the active role companies have in encouraging environmental sustainability can no longer be overlooked. This chapter aims to contribute to the vast academic literature on the intersections among environmental sustainability engagement, process innovation, and sustainable business models. Corporate commitment to sustainability can be explained in light of interactions between the internal strategic decisions of companies and the external environment in which they operate. Many theoretical frameworks, including stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory, institutional theory, and signaling theory, offer economic and institutional rationales that explain why environmental sustainability has become a priority for many companies. Because the debates have shifted the mechanisms that allow companies to implement environmental sustainability strategies in their business models, this chapter discusses how innovation shapes sustainable business models and reviews a set of frameworks that can implement various sustainability initiatives in the daily operations of a company.

This article offers a methodological tool that assesses a company's commitment to sustainability by analysing its business model (which is defined here as a description of processes through which organizations implement their competitive strategies and create value). Insofar as they are considered a key driver for long-term profitability, sustainability strategies should involve a company's value creation processes — that is, a company's business model. This paper specifically examines the extent to which mining companies engage in sustainability by performing content analyses of their business model disclosures. Our empirical analysis focuses on the UK mining industry because this sector often struggles with a host of societal, organizational, and environmental issues, and because UK mining companies are obliged to describe their business model in their strategic reports. In order to determine whether (and how) companies implement sustainability strategies in their business model, we perform a content analysis of the business model disclosures of 16 FTSE All-share index UK mining companies, for a total of 1048 text units. Our results suggest that mining companies have opted for a selective and soft approach to sustainability. Although Air, Energy, Water, Local community engagement, Environmental protection, and Labour conditions are often addressed in the business models of UK mining companies, there is very little evidence to suggest that concrete initiatives were actually implemented in other areas. In fact, some topics are completely ignored (Raw materials), almost completely ignored (Waste, Corruption and Lobbying, Local employment), or discussed in a predominantly descriptive manner (Human rights, Opportunity and equality, Recruitment and bargaining, Training). The practical implications of this study are twofold. First, we offer a new means of investigating how companies engage in sustainability by performing content analyses of their business model disclosures. Secondly, we offer a detailed discussion of how sustainability affects value creation processes in the UK mining industry.

Companies exhibit growing interest in sustainability rhetoric. Such an interest is alternatively justified by a company's need to address legitimacy instances, rather than to satisfy stakeholders' requests about its sustainability performance. Whatever the case, a main debated issue concerning sustainability rhetoric deals with the difficulties in understanding whether companies' commitment towards sustainability is "real", or it only consists of "empty words" that hide opportunistic strategies. Our paper contributes to this debate, proposing a methodological approach, which is based on a company's business model (BM) representation. We argue that the inclusion of adequate sustainability information in a company's BM representation can testify to a real company's engagement, as it illustrates how sustainability affects its value creation process. Compared to extant methodological proposals, mainly based on linguistic analyses, our approach does not require specific competences to be applied. Moreover, it saves user's time, as it allows the assessment of entire company's sustainability rhetoric through the analysis of the information reported in its BM. Our approach is consistent with previous contributions that propose a company's BM as a representation device able to illustrate strategic information that cannot be represented in the traditional corporate reporting. Our approach proposes a possible answer to address the challenges faced by regulators and standard setters involved in the regulation of sustainability disclosure. Such approach has found a first step of implementation in the UK, where since 2013, listed companies are requested to describe their BM in Strategic Reports.

This chapter provides an empirical analysis of the sustainability reporting practices of two multinational companies: the German IT company SAP, which operates in the software sector, and the Swedish retailer H&M, one of the most popular brands in the fast fashion industry. Both companies encounter different approaches/sustainability issues when explaining their commitment to sustainability. The aims of this chapter are twofold. On the one hand, it will provide an exemplificative illustration of how the business model tool can be used to interpret the information included in a company’s sustainability reporting, according to the proposal formulated in Chap. 3 of this volume. On the other hand, analyzing two leading companies, both of which provide benchmarks for their respective industries, will offer us insights on whether or not a business case can be made for sustainability, and how sustainability is implemented in the organization and integrated into the company’s value processes.

This chapter discusses the concept of sustainability and sustainable development, the potential role of enterprises in sustainability, and a framework for sustainability reporting. This section of the volume also analyzes the motivations for sustainability reporting from the perspective of both regulatory frameworks on non-financial disclosure and theories underlying voluntary social and environmental reporting, and the main guidelines—with particular reference to the Global Reporting Initiative and the Integrated Reporting Frameworks—that can support the construction of either a sustainability report or an integrated report.

The first case in the world of a mandatory requirement to disclose business model (BM) in the annual report is represented by Companies Act 2013 issued in the UK. The BM offers a simplified representation of a company's key resources and of how these are combined to create value. For this reason, a systematic communication of BM should affect the way a company's book value and its capability to generate earnings are perceived. The purpose of this work is to investigate the impact of mandatory BM disclosure on the value relevance of traditional financial measures. Focusing on a sample of UK listed companies over a six-year period, Ohlson model is utilized to assess the value relevance of book value and net income and their interactions with a dummy variable that accounts for the introduction of mandatory disclosure of BM. In line with previous studies on non-financial disclosure regulations, results show that the introduction of the mandatory requirement to disclose BM has a negative moderating effect on book value of equity and a positive moderating effect on net income. As this is the first study to investigate the effects of a mandatory BM disclosure regime, it could be of interest for both academics and standard-setters.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate business model (BM) disclosure. As the BM shows how a company creates and captures value, its communication in the Annual Report is considered a necessary background for a dynamic analysis, interpretation, and evaluation of the intellectual capital (IC) contribution to a company’s competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach – Focusing on a sample of listed UK companies operating in high-technology industries, this paper runs a content analysis of BM disclosure presented in the Strategic Report (SR). To develop the analysis, it refers to an ontological approach that encompasses the main research contributions to this topic. Findings – The analysis of SRs revealed that few companies use their BM disclosure to highlight the contribution of their IC to create and capture value. BM descriptions are not always clearly distinguishable from other strategic concepts and poorly illustrate the interactions among the BM components, which help understand how IC is entangled in a company’s value creation process. Practical implications – This paper answers the Financial Reporting Council’s call for comments about its Guidance on SR. More in general, it contributes to the issue of the regulation of narrative information in the Annual Report. Originality/value – This paper proposes a methodological framework for the analysis of BM disclosure quality. Thanks to this framework, it points out some critical issues of BM disclosure and offers some hints useful for its regulation.

This paper offers a contribution to the call for research on the effectiveness of regulatory interventions governing management commentary disclosure. Specifically, we focus on the mandatory requirement concerning performance indicator disclosure introduced by the Modernisation Directive (2003/51/EC). In keeping with other regulators, the European legislator opted to implement a regulatory approach based on a rule with loose specifications. To understand the effects of this Directive, we have investigated the Italian context, in which neither the national legislator nor the standard setter have supported companies with detailed specifications or guidelines aimed at integrating the European provision. We have compared companies’ disclosure practices before and after the adoption of the Directive, investigating the number of disclosed indicators and also their modalities of presentation, as they are considered essential to guaranteeing the quality of this disclosure. Our results document that a mandatory intervention, even if based on loose specifications, is associated with an increase in disclosure practices. Nevertheless, such regulation does not seem able to guarantee high quality disclosure practices. In fact, before and after the regulation, companies primarily disclose common financial measures. Moreover, the usefulness of such disclosure is undermined by a limited compliance with the international guidelines concerning the modalities of presentation. These results reveal some weaknesses in the European approach to performance indicator regulation. In general, the EU legislator fails to explain the purpose and the objective of performance indicator disclosure and does not take into account the differences between financial and non-financial indicators. Furthermore, it does not provide firms with clear guidelines concerning the presentation modalities.

Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn (Asteraceae) is a valuable medicinal plant utilized for silymarin production. However, only fragmentary and contradictory information about silymarin localization within S. marianum fruit are available. In this work, a twofold research approach was adopted in order to investigate the distribution and quantification of silymarin and of other phenolic compounds within the different fruit regions (pericarp, seed integument, cotyledon). Two S. marianum wild accessions with contrasting silymarin chemotype (A and B) and a mutant line (C) with an altered fruit colour were analysed. Fruits of Cynara cardunculus were studied as a reference. Firstly, the fruit morpho-anatomy was reviewed by means of light microscopy digital imaging and, secondly, a comprehensive histolocalization of the different classes of polyphenols within the fruit was carried out. The experimental evidences confirmed that silymarin, and its precursor taxifolin, are only accumulated in the seed integuments. The dark colour of fully-ripened fruits is due to the accumulation of condensed tannins in the pericarp subepidermal cell layer. On the contrary, the studied mutant line shows reduced condensed tannin content that probably result from impairment at the level of flavonoid biosynthetic pathway. Condensed tannins content is comparatively low in S. marianum fruits and very low in the identified mutant line. This could represent an advantage for the possible employment of S. marianum fruits and of silymarin extraction by-products in the feed and food sector.

Stachys annua subsp. annua, well-known in central Italy as 'stregona annuale', is an annual, small, slightly-scented herb, commonly found in fields and uncultivated areas in almost all regions of Italy. In folk medicine, its aerial parts were used as anti-catarrhal, febrifuge, tonic, and vulnerary. In the present work, the chemical composition of the flowering aerial parts was studied. The hydrodistilled volatile oil, analysed by GC/MS, showed sesquiterpenoids as the major fraction (42.5%); phytol (9.8%), germacrene D (9.2%), and spathulenol (8.5%) were the most abundant constituents. The volatile oil was assayed for antioxidant and cytotoxic activity by DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, and MTT methods. The cytotoxicity results against HCT116, A375, and MDA-MB 231 human tumor cell lines were significant, with IC50 values of 23.5, 37.2, and 41.5 μg/ml, respectively, whereas the antioxidant power was negligible. The EtOH extract was composed mainly of three glycosidic flavonoids, namely 7-{[2-O-(6-O-acetyl-β-D-allopyranosyl)-β-D-glucopyranosyl]oxy}-5,8-dihydroxy-2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one (1), 7-{[6-O-acetyl-2-O-(6-O-acetyl-β-D-allopyranosyl)-β-D-glucopyranosyl]oxy}-2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-5,8-dihydroxy-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one (2), and 7-{[6-O-acetyl-2-O-(β-D-allopyranosyl)-β-D-glucopyranosyl]oxy}-2-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-5,8-dihydroxy-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one (3). On the contrary, iridoids, considered chemotaxonomic markers of the genus Stachys, were absent in this species. Finally, the morphological and histochemical survey showed that glandular trichomes were composed of two main types, i.e. peltate type A and capitate types B and C giving positive response for both lipids and polyphenols.

As part of our research on local plants, including neglected horticultural crops to be rediscovered as culinary vegetables, we focused on Smyrnium olusatrum, a biennal herb used in cuisine for many centuries by Romans that has now been replaced by celery. We investigated the essential oil compositions of different plant organs collected in 18 populations of central Italy (Marche, Umbria, Abruzzo, Tuscany and Latium) by gas chromatography (GC) with a flame ionization detector and GC with mass spectrometry (MS) to identify the main chemotypes that occur. Owing to the presence of thermosensitive molecules such as isofuranodiene, curzerene and germacrone undergoing Cope-rearrangement during the GC run, a truthful quantitative determination of these constituents was accomplished by high-performance liquid chromatography with a diode-array detector (HPLC-DAD). Chemical data were supported by a chemometric technique in the form of principal component analysis, which allowed identification of chemical differences among organs. Furanosesquiterpenoids were the main fraction of the oils, with isofuranodiene as the most abundant in flowers and roots, furanoeremophil-1-one in leaves and roots and 1-β-acetoxyfuranoeudesm-4(15)-ene in fruits. To complete the phytochemical analysis, polar compounds such as chlorogenic acid, isoquercitin, 3-indoleacetic acid and saccharose were isolated from the ethanolic extracts of the plant by column chromatography and structurally elucidated by nuclear magnetic resonance. More- over, a morphological and histochemical survey on the secretory structures was performed, with the special aim to localize the sites of terpenes biosynthesis in both above- and belowground organs. Overall, the results can be considered important in the light of the recent interest in neglected edible plants for botanical food supplements and functional foods market. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Micromorphological, histochemical and ultrastructural investigations on the indumentum of vegetative and reproductive organs were carried out for Salvia uliginosa Benth. (Lamiaceae). Besides non-glandular hairs, two types of glandular trichomes (peltate and short-stalked capitate) are described and compared with trichomes in other Lamiaceae species. The histochemical findings evidence a similar, complex chemical nature of the secretory products for both types of trichomes: lipids, terpenes, phenols and flavonoids. TEM investigation allows to confirm the preliminary histochemical results. In addition, we report for the first time the phytochemical characterization of the leaf and flower volatile emission profiles and the analysis of the essential oil obtained from the aerial parts. Leaf volatile profile resulted more complex, presenting a total number of constituents almost double compared to that found in the flowers (50 vs 27 compounds, respectively). Leaf VOC profile is characterized by 30 exclusive compounds, dominated by 1,8-cineole (3.84%) and trans -γ-cadinene. Flower VOC profile Exhibits 7 exclusive compounds, among which germacrene D (8.65%) is the most abundant one. Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons represent the major chemical class in both profiles (90.13% in leaves and 92.18% in flowers) and 20 common compounds have been detected: among them δ-elemene, β-caryophyllene, α-humulene and bicyclogermacrene are the dominant constituents, with relative percentages in the range of about 5.00–17.00% for the leaves and of about 9.00-31.00% for the flowers. 49 different compounds were identified in the essential oil obtained from the aerial parts. The extraction yield is 0,02%. Sesquiterpenes represent the most abundant terpene fraction (89.56%). The main compound is bicyclogermacrene (16.30%) followed by germacrene D (14.81%), β-caryophyllene (8.57%) and δ-cadinene (8.47%), among the hydrocarbons. Spathulenol (12.66%) dominates the oxygenated sesquiterpenes.

Micromorphological investigations on the terpene-producing trichomes at the active secretory stage were performed on leaves and flowers of the Mexican Salvia greggii A. Gray (Lamiaceae), cultivated in Italy. Two types of glandular trichomes are described and compared: peltate, widespread on both the vegetative and the reproductive organs, and medium-stalked capitate, typical of the calyx abaxial side. The histochemical evidences indicate an exclusive terpene production for both morphotypes. TEM survey highlighted several common ultrastructural features that validated the light microscope observations, however a great variability was detected at the plastidome level. Different plastid populations characterized each trichome type, also in relation to the different distribution pattern on the plant epidermis. In the peltates plastids invariably displayed a well-developed internal membrane system and various types of osmiophilic inclusions: on the leaf and the calyx plastoglobuli were also observed, whereas on the corolla abundant starch grains. True leucoplast are only detected in the calyx capitate trichomes. 49 compounds were detected in the essential oil (EO) obtained from the aerial parts, with terpenes representing 98.76% of the total EO, besides negligible amounts of non-terpene derivatives and apocarotenoids. Sesquiterpenes and monoterpenes occurred in similar relative abundances: 52.7% versus 46.1%, respectively. Among sesquiterpenes, γ-muurolene (11.48%) and guaiol (6.15%) dominated for hydrocarbons and oxygenated compounds, respectively. β-pinene (20.24%) prevailed among the monoterpene hydrocarbons, resulting also as the most abundant compound in the essential oil. 1,8-cineole (11.00%) is the dominant compound of the oxygenated monoterpenes. The ultrastructural appearance of the plastidome was linked with the various terpene classes present in the EO profile. We argued that monoterpenes were probably synthetized in the calyx capitate trichomes and the sesquiterpenes in the peltates.

The secretory structures and the volatile fraction of Stachys officinalis (L.) Trevisan subsp. officinalis (Lamiaceae) from Italy were studied for the first time. Peltate and small capitate trichomes were observed on the whole plant (leaves and inflorescences). In the peltate trichomes, an unusual polyphenols content was evidenced by the histochemical methods. The volatile fraction was obtained by a solvent extract from the distillation water of leaves and inflorescences and analysed by GC-MS. Forty-four constituents for leaves, representing 94.1% of the total volatiles, and 57 compounds for flowers, accounting for 90.1% of the total volatiles, were identified. (E)-caryophyllene (20.1%), (E)-nerolidol (14.3%), caryophyllene oxide (6.1%) and γ-cadinene (5.7%) were recognised as the main constituents for the leaf volatile fraction, while caryophyllene oxide (16.5%), (E)-nerolidol (15.4%), humulene epoxide II (9.2%) and α-pinene (7.0%) were the main compounds for the flower volatile fraction.

The aim of this paper is investigating the micromorphological properties of fruits and seeds in the food and medicinal plant Momordica charantia L. (Cucurbitaceae). A detailed anatomical description on cross-sections of immature fruits and seeds is reported for the first time.The fruit is characterized by a thin epicarp, a multi-layered mesocarp and by an inconspicuous endocarp. The seed-coat displays a pattern of organization in five tissues. These endomorphic features were compared and discussed with the results of previous investigations on other representatives of the genus Momordica. Since the structure of seed-coat is considered diacritical in the taxonomy of the genus, this report may offer a set of additional character useful for the characterization of the genus.

Sideritis italica (Mill.) Greuter et Burdet belongs to the Lamiaceae family and is endemic to Italy. The glandular trichomes (morphology, distribution, histochemistry, and ultrastructure) of the plant were studied for the first time, along with the chemical composition of the essential oils. Abundant non-glandular hairs and peltate (type A) and capitate (types B, C(1), and C(x)) glandular trichomes were observed both on the vegetative and reproductive organs. The histochemical procedures and the ultrastructural investigation enabled specific location of the main site of essential oil production mainly in type-A peltate hairs. Particular emphasis is given to the release mechanism of the secreted material in all of the types of glands, and the potential taxonomic value of the indumentum in the Lamiaceae family is briefly discussed. Essential oils were hydrodistilled from flowering aerial parts of S. italica, and 136 compounds (112 in flowerheads, 79 in vegetative parts) were identified. The quantitative prevalence of diterpenoids (43.4% in flowerheads and 22.3% in vegetative parts) was the most significant characteristic of the essential oil of S. italica that could be classified as a diterpene-rich essential oil according to the classification of Kirimer.

The present study provides new information about the reproductive biology of Boswellia sacra (Burseraceae), focusing on the nectary and its attractiveness for pollinators. The nectary disc changes its color from yellow to orange and red during the flower development. The colors are related to the main period of the stigmatic receptivity, to the dehiscence of anthers with pollen presentation and the nectar secretion. Pollinators preferentially visit the flowers in the “yellow” phase and neglect the “red phase”. This suggests a sophisticated dialogue between the plant and its pollinators. The color change from yellow to red occurs in a very short time (less than 24 h) and it is due to the accumulation of anthocyanins. Despite this dialogue between plant and pollinators, the number of fruits is often scanty.

La Direttiva Europea 51/2003, intervenendo sul contenuto della Relazione sulla Gestione, richiede la pubblicazione di indicatori di prestazione economico-finanziaria in bilancio, al fine di accrescere l’informazione trasmessa agli investitori. L’obiettivo del lavoro e verificare i risultati raggiunti dalla Direttiva. Tenuto conto che i fattori ambientali possono costituire ostacoli al processo di armonizzazione, la loro influenza sulle pratiche di disclosure viene studiata in due paesi assai diversi per cultura, economia e regolamentazione: Italia e Regno Unito. A questo fine, la disclosure viene esaminata sotto due profili: la quantita di indicatori pubblicati e la loro qualita. La qualita e misurata in termini di rispetto delle caratteristiche qualitative indicate dal Framework dello IASB. Un campione rappresentativo delle societa quotate e stato costruito in entrambi i paesi. Si sono manualmente esaminati i bilanci del 2008. Dopo aver controllato per indebitamento, settore d’attivita, dimensione e profittabilita, i risultati indicano che il numero di indicatori pubblicati in bilancio non differisce significativamente da paese a paese. La Direttiva, pertanto, puo essere stata uno strumento utile per armonizzare il comportamento delle imprese. Tuttavia, e risultato che i fattori ambientali continuano a influire sulla qualita degli indicatori. La circostanza suggerisce la necessita di un intervento degli standard setter nazionali che definisca piu puntualmente le modalita di presentazione degli indicatori di prestazione. European Union Directive 51/2003 requires the publication of Financial Key Performance Indicators (FKPIs) in order to standardize this practice. We aim to test whether and to what extent the directive realizes the standardization of FKPIs. Because country factors are obstacles that the international standardization process intends to remove, we study their influence on disclosure practices in two very different countries in terms of cultural, economic, and regulation environments: Italy and the United Kingdom. Disclosure practices involve two dimensions: the quantity of indicators published and their quality. Quality is measured in terms of compliance with qualitative characteristics advocated by the IASB’s Framework. We select a representative sample of listed companies in both countries. The FKPI quantity and quality are hand collected from their 2008 annual reports. After controlling for leverage, industry, size, and profitability, we find that the number of indicators published in an annual report does not vary by country. The Directive may have helped this process. On the other hand, country factors drive the quality of FKPI communication. Thus, this finding suggests that standard setters and regulators should shift their attention to the quality aspects of FKPIs.

A new class of diphosphites is described, based on a tetraphenol backbone. Ligands TP1–TP5 were synthesized and fully characterized and their application in the hydroformylation of octenes was investigated. Ligand TP3, bearing a 1-naphthoxy substituent on the phosphorus, shows the highest regioselectivity toward the linear aldehyde.

This Review summarizes the state of the art in transition metal-catalyzed alkene hydrocyanation with special emphasis on mechanistic studies. Due to its importance for the DuPont adiponitrile process, most of the literature deals with the nickel-catalyzed hydrocyanation. Ligand electronic and steric effects, as well as the bite angle of chelating ligands, play a dominant role for the catalyst performance. The ligand properties have a major effect on the catalyst stability and on the rate limiting step - the reductive elimination of the products. The DuPont process, comprises three separate steps: a) the hydrocyanation of 1,3-butadiene and other conjugated dienes, b) the isomerization of 2-methyl-3-butenenitrile to 3-pentenenitrile, and c) the hydrocyanation of 3-pentenenitrile and other monoalkenes. Existing knowledge of these steps is summarized and elucidated. For the latter reactions, Lewis acid cocatalysts are imperative, and their influence on the regioselectivity and the catalyst performance will be discussed. Asymmetric alkene hydrocyanation has attracted considerable interest recently and is covered from a mechanistic viewpoint. Finally, a short account is given on other metals applied in alkene hydrocyanation. More detailed mechanistic understanding is still required for the improvement of catalyst performance and to develop this reaction to its full potential in organic synthesis.

The addition of HCN to alkenes is a very useful reaction for the synthesis of functional organic substrates. Industrially the nickel-catalyzed hydrocyanation has gained considerable importance mainly because of the production of adiponitrile in the DuPont process. In this process the hydrocyanation of butadiene is carried out using aryl phosphite-modified nickel catalyst. Since the performance of organo-transition metal complexes is largely determined by the ligand environment of the metal, fundamental understanding and ligand development is of pivotal importance for any progress. This feature article gives an account of the development and application of different mono- and bidentate phosphorus-based ligands in the Ni-catalyzed hydrocyanation reaction of alkenes. Special attention will be paid to the development of insight and understanding of the ligand structural and electronic properties towards the improvement of the catalyst performance in terms of stability, activity, and selectivity.

Glandular trichomes of Labiatae are among the most investigated secretory structures. Most species studied belong to subfamily Nepetoidae, including plants with aromatic properties, while so far a few species of subfamily Lamioideae were examined. In this work, we studied the micromorphology, ultrastructure, type and release of secretion of the glandular trichomes present on leaves and flowers of several species belonging to subfamily Lamioideae, (Stachys alopecuros (L.) Bentham subsp. alopecuros, S. officinalis (L.) Trevisan subsp. officinalis, S. germanica L. subsp. germanica, S. germanica L. subsp. salviifolia (Ten.) Gams, S. sylvatica L., S. heraclea All., S. plumosa Griseb., S. annua L., Prasium majus L., Sideritis romana L.) and one to the sister group Scutellarioideae (Scutellaria galericulata L.). Besides the well-known peltate and small capitate trichomes, widely described in the literature, other types of glandular trichomes were encountered; stalked peltate hairs and large capitate hairs. In particular, a new type of capitate trichome, exclusive of calices and corollas, which presents a mode and release of secretion never described before, is reported.

Companies are paying more attention to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social and environmental sustainability issues. However, skeptics question whether CSR is primarily motivated by the need to integrate sustainability issues in a company’s strategic objectives or rather to manage reputation and legitimacy concerns. A company that implemented a real commitment to sustainability in its way of operating should provide users with adequate information, concerning sustainability, in its BM disclosure. Our aim is to define a method capable of assessing whether and how a companies’ commitment to sustainability is reflected in its BM disclosure within the annual report. We present qualitative level scale to classify sustainability disclosure, from the lower level, which is labelled as “Rhetoric” and includes companies whose disclosure is not connected to company business model, to the highest level,“Monitoring”, where sustainability issues are fully integrated in a company’s competitive strategy and are included in its planning and control system. The “Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report and Directors’ Report) Regulations 2013” forced UK companies to include a description of their business model in their annual strategic report. Thus, after presenting our methodology, in order to assess sustainability disclosure in a case study we investigated a sample of listed UK companies operating in extractive industries.

Chemotypes, chemically distinct entities within a plant species based on genetic variation, are exceptionally frequent for secondary compounds such as essential oils and can influence the quality/activity of plant materials. This is the case with hyssop ( Hyssopus officinalis ) which is present in Italy with two main subspecies, officinalis and aristatus . While many phytochemical investigations have examined the former, there is a dearth of studies on the latter. In this work, we studied the morphology and histochemistry of H. officinalis subsp. aristatus growing in Abruzzo (central Italy), and conducted comprehensive phytochemical analysis of it. Furthermore, the cytotoxic, antioxidant, antimicrobial and immunostimulant effects of the essential oil were investigated. The essential oil composition, analysed by GC-FID and GC–MS, highlighted a peculiar chemotype, with linalool and methyl eugenol its main constituents. We also investigated the main chemical variations between dry and fresh batches collected in two different years. Furthermore, from the ethanolic extract, triterpenic acids, quinic acid derivatives, polyphenolic acids and, interestingly, an iridoid precursor, were isolated and structurally characterized by NMR. Study of the plant indumentum showed that the glandular trichomes vary in structure, distribution, secretion mode and in the chemical composition of the secretory products. Finally, the biological assays conducted on the essential oil highlighted moderate antioxidant and antimicrobial activity, noticeable cytotoxicity on human tumor cells and potential immunostimulant effects that are worthy of further investigations.

Stachys tymphaea (Lamiaceae) is a perennial herb growing in forest openings and dry meadows of central and southern Italy. It was investigated for the first time here, determining the content of secondary metabolites, the micromorphology of glandular trichomes, the histochemical localization of secretion, and the biological activity of the volatile oil, namely, the cytotoxic, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties. The plant showed a peculiar molecular pattern, being rich of biophenolic compounds as flavonoids, phenylethanoid glycosides, and caffeoylquinic acid derivatives, but poor of iridoids, which are known as marker compounds of the genus Stachys. The essential oil was characterized by GC-FID and GC/MS analyses, revealing a high percentage of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (54.6%), with germacrene D (30.0%) and (E)-β-farnesene (12.4%) as the most abundant compounds, while other main components were representatives of the diterpenes (19.2%), represented mainly by (E)-phytol (11.9%). This composition supported the taxonomic relationships in the genus Stachys, which comprises oil-poor species producing essential oils rich in hydrocarbons, with germacrene D as one of the predominant components. The micromorphological study revealed three types of glandular hairs, i.e., Type A peltate trichomes, being the primary sites of essential oil biosynthesis, Type B short-stalked trichomes, typical mucopolysaccharide producers, and Type C long capitate trichomes, secreting a complex mixture of both lipophilic and hydrophilic substances, with a major phenolic fraction. Moreover, the MTT assay revealed the potential of the volatile oil to inhibit A375, HCT116, and MDA-MB 231 tumor cells lines (IC50 values of 23.9-34.4 μg/ml).

This study extends impression management literature by testing whether internal control mechanisms and other external control mechanisms are effective in controlling potentially misleading disclosure in management reporting.Because agency conflicts depend on environmental settings, impression management mechanisms can differ among countries. This study enlarges previous evidence by focusing on non-Anglo-Saxon countries. Italy is worth studying due to the similarities that Italian institutional environment shows with many other countries, at least in Continental Europe. Moreover, management reporting disclosure in Italy is essentially voluntary and potentially highly discretional.I develop a composite measure of disclosure bias, based on four different techniques of impression management, to assess the level of misleading disclosure included in the area of management reporting devoted to the analysis of firm performance. The findings, based on a sample of Italian listed companies, confirm the presence of self-serving disclosure in management reporting. Additionally, I find that the proportion of independent directors and the degree of foreign activity are significantly and negatively correlated with disclosure bias scores. Relevant operative implications involving the quality of management reporting disclosure in non-Anglo-Saxon countries are discussed.

Stachys alopecuros subsp. divulsa (Lamiaceae), a perennial herb endemic to central Italy growing on mountain pastures, was investigated for the first time for the content of secondary metabolites, for the micromorphology and histochemistry of glandular trichomes, and for the biological activity of the volatile oil, namely cytotoxic, antioxidant and antimicrobial. The plant showed the molecular pattern of iridoids, among which a new iridoid diglycoside (4′- O -β- d -galactopyranosyl-teuhircoside) was detected, together with a sterol glucoside and a phenylethanoid glycoside. The essential oil from the flowering aerial parts was characterized by a high proportion of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (65.1%), with ( E )-caryophyllene (33.2%) as the most abundant, while other main components were germacrene D (7.6%), α-humulene (6.4%) and the oxygenated cis -sesquisabinene hydrate (10.2%). Taken together, polar and apolar chemical profiles support the classification of the species within the section Betonica of the genus Stachys . Micromorphological study revealed three types of glandular hairs secreting different classes of compounds, with type A peltate hairs producing the bulk of the essential oil. MTT assay revealed the potential of the volatile oil in inhibiting A375, HCT116 and MDA-MB 231 tumor cells (IC 50 values below 20 μg/ml).

The oil composition of inflorescences and leaves of Stachys sylvatica L. from Italy was analysed by GC–MS. The most abundant compounds in the oil from the inflorescences were germacrene D (55.2%), (E)-β-farnesene (9.1%) and n-tetracosane (6.9%), whilst germacrene D (31.7%), n-tetracosane (7.8%) and mint sulphide (6.4%) were the main compounds in the oil from the leaves. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.