Impact of the dynamics of discourses on the development of organic farming in Flanders

Discursive dynamics have played an important role in determining the development of the organic farming sector in Flanders (the northern part of Belgium). These dynamics co-shaped political and institutional changes including the implementation of EU regulations and the deployment of supply-and market-driven measures. Moreover, discursive dynamics mediated the effects of these political-institutional changes on the willingness of agricultural stakeholders –including individual farmers– to contribute to a growth of the organic agricultural sector. Our results suggest that a focus on institutional changes or individual farmers’ willingness to convert may be useful but only partially explains organic agricultural developments

Stable incidence rates of tuberculosis (TB) among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative South African gold miners during a decade of epidemic HIV-associated TB.

During the last decade, annual tuberculosis (TB) case-notification rates increased 4-fold, to >4000 cases/100000 person-years, in the study workforce, among whom prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was 30% in 2000. Three separate cohort studies, totalling 6454 HIV-negative participants, were combined and analyzed for time trends. Observed incidence of TB varied between 962 (1991-1994) and 1589 (1999-2000) cases/100000 person-years (P=.17, test for trend). There was, however, a progressive increase in age, and, for each period, older age was associated with increased incidence rates of TB (P<.001). Having adjusted for age differences, there was no significant association between incidence of TB and calendar period (P=.81, test for trend). Relative to 1991-1994, multivariate-adjusted incidence-rate ratios were 0.94, for 1995-1997, 0.96, for 1998-1999, and 1.05, for 1999-2000. Preventing a secondary epidemic of TB among HIV-negative individuals may be achievable with conventional means, even in settings with a high burden of HIV-associated TB

Using a gamified monitoring app to change adolescents' snack intake : the development of the REWARD app and evaluation design

Background: As the snacking pattern of European adolescents is of great concern, effective interventions are necessary. Till now health promotion efforts in children and adolescents have had only limited success in changing adolescents' eating patterns and anthropometrics. Therefore, the present study proposes an innovative approach to influence dietary behaviors in youth based on new insights on effective behavior change strategies and attractive intervention channels to engage adolescents. This article describes the rationale, the development, and evaluation design of the 'Snack Track School' app. The aim of the app is to improve the snacking patterns of Flemish 14- to 16-year olds. Methods: The development of the app was informed by the systematic, stepwise, iterative, and collaborative principles of the Intervention Mapping protocol. A four week mHealth intervention was developed based on the dual-system model with behavioral change strategies targeting both the reflective (i.e., active learning, advance organizers, mere exposure, goal-setting, monitoring, and feedback) and automatic processes (i.e., rewards and positive reinforcement). This intervention will be evaluated via a controlled pre-post design in Flemish schools among 1400 adolescents. Discussion: When this intervention including strategies focused on both the reflective and automatic pathway proves to be effective, it will offer a new scientifically-based vision, guidelines and practical tools for public health and health promotion (i.e., incorporation of learning theories in intervention programs)

Financial phantasmagoria: corporate image-work in times of crisis

Our purpose in this article is to relate the real movements in the economy during 2008 to the ?image-work? of financial institutions. Over the period January?December 2008 we collected 241 separate advertisements from 61 financial institutions published in the Financial Times. Reading across the ensemble of advertisements for themes and evocative images provides an impression of the financial imaginaries created by these organizations as the global financial crisis unfolded. In using the term ?phantasmagoria? we move beyond its colloquial sense of a set of strange images designed to dazzle towards the more technical connotation used by Ranci�re (2004) who suggested that words and images can offer a trace of an overall determining set-up if they are torn from their obviousness so they become phantasmagoric figures. The key phantasmagoric figure we identify here is that of the financial institution as timeless, immortal and unchanging; a coherent and autonomous entity amongst other actors. This notion of uniqueness belies the commonality of thinking which precipitated the global financial crisis as well as the limited capacity for control of financial institutions in relation to market events. It also functions as a powerful naturalizing force, making it hard to question certain aspects of the recent period of ?capitalism in crisis?

3D high definition video coding on a GPU-based heterogeneous system

H.264/MVC is a standard for supporting the sensation of 3D, based on coding from 2 (stereo) to N views. H.264/MVC adopts many coding options inherited from single view H.264/AVC, and thus its complexity is even higher, mainly because the number of processing views is higher. In this manuscript, we aim at an efficient parallelization of the most computationally intensive video encoding module for stereo sequences. In particular, inter prediction and its collaborative execution on a heterogeneous platform. The proposal is based on an efficient dynamic load balancing algorithm and on breaking encoding dependencies. Experimental results demonstrate the proposed algorithm's ability to reduce the encoding time for different stereo high definition sequences. Speed-up values of up to 90× were obtained when compared with the reference encoder on the same platform. Moreover, the proposed algorithm also provides a more energy-efficient approach and hence requires less energy than the sequential reference algorith

Achtergrondstudie bij de subsidies voor de biologische land- en tuinbouw in Vlaanderen

In opdracht van de Vlaamse overheid heeft het Louis Bolk Instituut, samen met het Instituut voor landbouw- en visserijonderzoek (ILVO), een studie uitgevoerd naar de bedrijfseconomische gevolgen van de omschakeling van gangbare naar biologische landbouw. Aanleiding voor de studie waren een mogelijke herziening van de hoogte van de overheidssubsidie die biologische landbouwers in Vlaanderen hiervoor ontvangen en het geringe aantal omschakelende agrariërs. Conclusie van de studie is dat voor veel bedrijven omschakeling naar biologische landbouw een rendabel alternatief kan vormen. De studie bevestigt tevens een aantal fundamentele kwetsbaarheden en obstakels. Transitiekosten (het vergaren van nieuwe kennis en marktcontacten, de afzet van de producten en voor sommige bedrijven desinvesteringen tijdens de overgangsperiode) kunnen een groot obstakel vormen voor omschakeling omdat deze transitiekosten pas na vele jaren worden terugverdiend. Daarnaast kan het risico op marktfalen goed bedrijfsresultaat in de weg staan. Deze kwetsbaarheden en obstakels manifesteren zich vooral op bedrijfsniveau waardoor ze moeilijker toewijsbaar worden naar teeltniveau. Een van de aanbevelingen is daarom om (ook) instrumenten te ontwikkelen die de overgangskosten en het risico op marktfalen verminderen. Doordat omschakeling voor veel bedrijven een aantrekkelijke optie lijkt en belangrijke kostencomponenten zich vooral op bedrijfsniveau manifesteren is een blijvende en op hectarebasis teruggebrachte ondersteuningspremie voor biologische landbouw nog slechts beperkt te verantwoorden. Aangezien prijzen continue wisselen en de beschikbaarheid van betrouwbare gegevens beperkt is, is ook een ‘beslissingsondersteunend rekenmodel’ opgeleverd waarmee berekeningen gemakkelijk later opnieuw gedaan kunnen worden

PIN15 CHRONIC HEPATITIS B (CHB) MANAGEMENT COSTS IN SWEDEN

L'edifici fou construït l'any 1860, aproximadament.Primer pla, contrapicat d'un edifici d'habitatges entre mitgeres, en cantonada. Consta de planta baixa, cinc plantes pis i terrat. La façana és uniforme, de marcat estil academicista, amb un pòrtic amb pilars i arcs de mig punt a la planta baixa