A Review of the Social Benefits of Joint Farming Ventures

working paperThis paper will review some of the main benefits arising from farmers’ working together, whether through Farm Partnerships or Share Farming arrangements. First, some of the general social benefits are overviewed, and then brief case-studies are presented of the specific benefits that have been experienced by farmers working together in the UK and Norway

Agriculture, Rural Development and Potential for a ‘Middle Agriculture’ in Ireland

Working PaperThis paper gives a brief overview of current farm viability in Ireland and summarises some of the main ‘barriers’ to farm families’ engagement in contemporary rural development programmes. Against this backdrop, the paper discusses the potential of a middle agriculture model for rural development. The capacity of such a model to address some of the economic, social and cultural predicaments of Irish family farms is outlined. The potential of the model is also discussed in terms of how it may respond to contemporary EC rural development policy priority objectives

The Potential for Joint Farming Ventures in Irish Agriculture: A Sociological Review

peer-reviewedJoint farming ventures (JFVs) are promoted within Irish and EU policy discourses as strategies that can enhance the economic and social sustainability of family farming. Research has shown that JFVs, including arrangements such as farm partnerships, contract rearing and share farming, can potentially enable farmers to work cooperatively to improve farm productivity, reduce working hours, facilitate succession, develop skills and improve relationships within the farm household. In the context of increasing policy promotion of JFVs, there is a need to make some attempt at understanding the macro socio-cultural disposition of family farming to cooperation. Reviewing sociological studies of agricultural cooperation and taking a specific focus on the Irish contextual backdrop, this paper draws the reader’s attention to the importance of historical legacy, pragmatic economic and social concerns, communicative norms, inter-personal relationships, individualism and, policy and extension stimuli, all of which shape farmers’ dispositions to cooperation and to JFVs specifically.This work was funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Ireland under the Research Stimulus Fund (RSF), Project Number: 11/S/151

The Rural Development Programme (2007-2013) and Farmer Innovation: A Review to Date and Look to the Future

working paperThis paper seeks to comment on farmer innovation in relation to the measures within the Rural Development Programme (2007-2013). Evidence is presented on the general extent of innovation among farmers and the specific uptake of measures within Axes 1, 2 and 3 of the RDP. Changes to, and curtailment of, measures within the various Axes since the inception of the RDP until April 2010 are identified. Following a discussion of some of the internal and external factors that promote or hinder farmer innovation and participation with the Axes, suggestions are made about how to increase farmer engagement with the RDP. It is concluded that for the remainder of the RDP, certain bureaucratic barriers, governance issues, resource issues, training needs, and research gaps must be addressed if farm households are to innovate to the extent that they are expected to as a result of the RD

The Potential of an Enhanced Cooperation Measure in the EAFRD (2014-2020): the case of Ireland

This report was funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) through the National Rural Network (February-May, 2012).The current Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on support for Rural Development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) includes Article (36) Cooperation that is potentially instrumental for realising the objectives of FOOD HARVEST 20204. The purpose of this report is to assess the scope and potential of Article 36 in the context of Irish agriculture and its findings have four key aspects. First, the main areas of confluence between Article 36 and primary policy objectives as set out in Food Harvest 2020 are identified. Second, a range of cooperation categories and types relevant to Article 36, many of which are operational in Ireland, are profiled. Third, drawing from case-studies of these co-operation types5, the operational characteristics of each type are presented, focusing on compatibility with Article 36. Possible supports that would encourage and assist the formation and operation of the cooperation types on a broad scale into the future, and also any possible constraints that would prevent success, are indicated. Fourth, a brief discussion of some key implementation considerations arising from the analysis overall is presented.Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marin

The association between Parkinson's disease and anti-epilepsy drug carbamazepine: a case-control study using the UK General Practice Research Database.

AIMS: To investigate whether the use of carbamazepine is associated with reduced risk of Parkinson's disease. METHODS: We conducted a population-based, matched case-control study of patients randomly selected from the UK General Research Practice Database. We identified 8549 patients with Parkinson's disease using diagnosis criteria with a positive predictive value of 90%. These patients were compared with 42, 160 control subjects matched for age, sex and general practice. RESULTS: Overall, 3.0% of cases (257 of 8549) had at least one recorded prescription for carbamazepine compared with 2.5% (1050 of 42, 160) of controls. The crude odds ratio for the association between Parkinson's disease and carbamazepine was 1.22 (95% confidence interval 1.06-1.40), but this reduced to 0.93 (95% confidence interval 0.81-1.08, P = 0.34) after adjusting for annual consultation rate. Further adjustment for body mass index, smoking status, alcohol consumption or use of calcium channel blockers did not affect results. There was no evidence that risk decreased with higher doses or longer duration of carbamazepine use. CONCLUSIONS: There was little to no evidence that use of carbamazepine is associated with reduced risk of Parkinson's disease. Although the study was underpowered, it does indicate that any effect of carbamazepine is likely to be small

Implementation of interconnect simulation tools in spice

Accurate computer simulation of high speed digital computer circuits and communication circuits requires a multimode approach to simulate both the devices and the interconnects between devices. Classical circuit analysis algorithms (lumped parameter) are needed for circuit devices and the network formed by the interconnected devices. The interconnects, however, have to be modeled as transmission lines which incorporate electromagnetic field analysis. An approach to writing a multimode simulator is to take an existing software package which performs either lumped parameter analysis or field analysis and add the missing type of analysis routines to the package. In this work a traditionally lumped parameter simulator, SPICE, is modified so that it will perform lossy transmission line analysis using a different model approach. Modifying SPICE3E2 or any other large software package is not a trivial task. An understanding of the programming conventions used, simulation software, and simulation algorithms is required. This thesis was written to clarify the procedure for installing a device into SPICE3E2. The installation of three devices is documented and the installations of the first two provide a foundation for installation of the lossy line which is the third device. The details of discussions are specific to SPICE, but the concepts will be helpful when performing installations into other circuit analysis packages

The introduction of the HPV primary screening programme

Women aged 25-49 (24 ½ in England) are invited for cervical screening (previously referred to as smear test) every three years and screening is undertaken every 5 years in women aged 50-64. Cervical screening can detect early changes in cervical cells, which if left undetected and untreated could lead to cancer of cervix. 99.9% of cervical cancers are caused by Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). Plans are in place to implement HPV primary screening into the cervical screening programme. HPV primary screening involves testing all cervical samples for HPV and undertaking cytology only on samples that are HPV positive. The decision to implement HPV primary screening in the cervical screening programme follows on from the report of the ARTISTIC Trial. This article discusses the background to the introduction of HPV primary screening. Key Points 1. Cervical screening can detect early changes in cervical cells 2. 99.9% of cervical cancers are caused by Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) 3. HPV primary screening involves testing all cervical samples for HPV 4. Cytology will be undertaken on samples that are HPV positive only 5. Health professionals should be aware of the background to this new development

Re-Visioning Quality Assurance in Higher Education.

A central organising theme of this study is that the regulatory landscape of HE is transforming in ways that are reconstituting Higher Education [HE]. The purpose of this study is to contribute to understandings of the dynamic interaction between regulation and HE. This study focused on Quality Assurance [QA] as a key policy concern and regulatory mechanism of HE at national, European and global levels (L. Harvey, 2005). Drawing on poststructuralist and critical theories I located QA as a mechanism of governing HE and neoliberalism as a key rationality of governing HE. Following Brenner & Theodore (2002), I distinguished between neoliberalism as an abstract idea of the extension of market based values into political, social and personal life and neoliberalisation as the context-dependent process by which neoliberalism takes hold. My data was derived from two key European QA texts: European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ENQA, 2009) and European Association of Psychotherapy Training Accreditation Committee (EAP, 2012a). Using Critical Discourse Analysis as overall methodological framework, these texts were analysed in terms of their institutional, intertextual, discursive and textual contexts through two dialectically related categories: QA as a mechanism of transformation and HE as emerging form – the ‘imaginary’ of the QA project. I examined emerging means by which QA operates, locations in which it occurs, rationalities that underpin it and consequences of its application. My findings identified regulatory transformations involving emerging mechanisms of steerage of HE, such as ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ regulation working together. They identified emerging conceptualisations of quality in HE as an objective, measurable entity and an accountability task, and an emerging ideal of HE that dismantles boundaries between HE and the socio-economic sphere. They identified neoliberalism as one rationality underpinning these transformations and also alternative rationalities, strategies and technologies that affect the trajectory of QA and the formation of HE. Alternatives included challenges to neoliberal ideals, alternative knowledges about QA and HE, and alternative practices of QA. My findings identified pathways of neoliberalisation in HE as neither uniform nor consistent and trajectories of QA and HE as contingent on historic conditions and activities of policy actors. My contribution to the study of HE is to provide new understandings of regulatory landscapes of HE, of how neoliberalism has taken shape in HE spaces utilising regulatory mechanisms and how policy actors insert different alternative meanings in order to contest neoliberal trajectories of HE