Combined production of broilers and fruits

Combined production of broilers and fruit trees is a subject often discussed in organic fruit production in Denmark. Very little research has been carried out on this type of production system. In organic production in Denmark, nearly no pesticides are allowed, so the need for alternative pest control is large. Apple sawfly (Hoplocampa testudinea) and pear midge (Contarinia pyrivora) cause big crop losses in apples and pears respectively, in unsprayed organic fruit production. Both insects infest fruitlets and cause these to drop prematurely after which the pests pupate in the topsoil. In the present experiment a research orchard with the varieties ‘Discovery’ and ‘Conference’ were used as outdoor area for broilers to minimise the population of sawflies and pear midges, and to reduce the need for weeding and manuring. The trees were kept unsprayed. Fruit yield and fruit quality were assessed at harvest. White sticky traps were placed in the test area in order to measure the occurrence of sawfly over time. The infestation of pear midge was investigated counting the infested fruitlets in clusters on trees at the centre of the plots. The catch of apple sawflies was reduced in the combined apple and broiler production, but no significant effect on the yield or the fruit quality was seen. Experiences from on-farm research show that combining fruit and egg-production is one way to reduce the problem with apple sawfly, but poultry alone is not a sufficient way of controlling sawflies. The welfare and health of the broilers were excellent under fruit trees

A Reality Checklist for Multi-Device Systems in the Wild?

This position paper proposes the development of a reality checklist for multi-device systems in the wild. The checklist will help researchers evaluate designs, design ideas or design specifications for a system before it is deployed in the wild

Epistemic Schmagency?

Constructivist approaches in epistemology and ethics offer a promising account of normativity. But constructivism faces a powerful Schmagency Objection, raised by David Enoch. While Enoch’s objection has been widely discussed in the context of practical norms, no one has yet explored how the Schmagency Objection might undermine epistemic constructivism. In this paper, I rectify that gap. First, I develop the objection against a prominent form of epistemic constructivism, Belief Constitutivism. Belief Constitutivism is susceptible to a Schmagency Objection, I argue, because it locates the source of normativity in the belief rather than the agent. In the final section, I propose a version of epistemic constructivism that locates epistemic normativity as constitutive of agency. I argue that this version has the resources to respond to the Schmagency Objection

Introduction: Examined Live – An Epistemological Exchange Between Philosophy and Cultural Psychology on Reflection

Besides the general agreement about the human capability of reflection, there is a large area of disagreement and debate about the nature and value of “reflective scrutiny” and the role of “second-order states” in everyday life. This problem has been discussed in a vast and heterogeneous literature about topics such as epistemic injustice, epistemic norms, agency, understanding, meta-cognition etc. However, there is not yet any extensive and interdisciplinary work, specifically focused on the topic of the epistemic value of reflection. This volume is one of the first attempts aimed at providing an innovative contribution, an exchange between philosophy, epistemology and psychology about the place and value of reflection in everyday life. Our goal in the next sections is not to offer an exhaustive overview of recent work on epistemic reflection, nor to mimic all of the contributions made by the chapters in this volume. We will try to highlight some topics that have motivated a new resumption of this field and, with that, drawing on chapters from this volume where relevant. Two elements defined the scope and content of this volume, on the one hand, the crucial contribution of Ernest Sosa, whose works provide original and thought-provoking contributions to contemporary epistemology in setting a new direction for old dilemmas about the nature and value of knowledge, giving a central place to reflection. On the other hand, the recent developments of cultural psychology, in the version of the “Aalborg approach”, reconsider the object and scope of psychological sciences, stressing that “[h]uman conduct is purposeful”

Indicators of nutritional status of turbot Scophthalmus maximus (L., 1758) larvae

Publicado

Digital elevation model and orthophotographs of Greenland based on aerial photographs from 1978–1987

Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) play a prominent role in glaciological studies for the mass balance of glaciers and ice sheets. By providing a time snapshot of glacier geometry, DEMs are crucial for most glacier evolution modelling studies, but are also important for cryospheric modelling in general. We present a historical medium-resolution DEM and orthophotographs that consistently cover the entire surroundings and margins of the Greenland Ice Sheet 1978–1987. About 3,500 aerial photographs of Greenland are combined with field surveyed geodetic ground control to produce a 25 m gridded DEM and a 2 m black-and-white digital orthophotograph. Supporting data consist of a reliability mask and a photo footprint coverage with recording dates. Through one internal and two external validation tests, this DEM shows an accuracy better than 10 m horizontally and 6 m vertically while the precision is better than 4 m. This dataset proved successful for topographical mapping and geodetic mass balance. Other uses include control and calibration of remotely sensed data such as imagery or InSAR velocity maps

Realism, Objectivity, and Evaluation

I discuss Benacerraf's epistemological challenge for realism about areas like mathematics, metalogic, and modality, and describe the pluralist response to it. I explain why normative pluralism is peculiarly unsatisfactory, and use this explanation to formulate a radicalization of Moore's Open Question Argument. According to the argument, the facts -- even the normative facts -- fail to settle the practical questions at the center of our normative lives. One lesson is that the concepts of realism and objectivity, which are widely identified, are actually in tension

Indicators of nutritional status of turbot Scophthalmus maximus (L., 1758) larvae

Se han analizado diferentes indicadores del estado nutricional de larvas de rodaballo Scophthalmus maximus (L., 1758) alimentadas de hasta 53 días de edad y se han comparado con los de otras larvas sometidas a condiciones de inanición. Los indicadores estudiados fueron longitud, peso seco, condición relativa larvaria, diámetro del otolito, histología digestiva de las larvas, contenido en ácidos grasos, ácido ascórbico, RNA, DNA Y proteínas. Los procesos de inanición se llevaron a cabo a los 3, 9, 16, 23 Y 27 días de edad y los análisis de estas larvas fueron comparados con los de larvas alimentadas de las mismas edades. Durante las primeras 24 horas de inanición, las goticulas lipídicas en las células epiteliales desaparecen por completo del intestino. Después, la condición relativa disminuye aproximadamente el 5% por día y el diámetro relativo del otolito se incrementa en el 5% por día. Se producen también disminuciones en el peso seco, el contenido proteico, los niveles de ácidos grasos 18:1Ω-9, 20:5Ω-3 (EPA) y los de otros ácidos grasos altamente insaturados (Ω-3 HUFA), y en la relación RNA/DNA. Sin embargo, la mayoría de los indicadores investigados muestran una alta variación, incluso entre las distintas experiencias de cultivo realizadas, por lo que se concluye que las gotículas de lípidos en las células epiteliales del intestino, la condición relativa y el diámetro relativo del otolito son las únicas variables que pueden ser útiles para detectar un proceso de inanición en larvas de rodaballo.Nutritional status indicators of larvae of turbot Scophthalmus maximus (L., 1758) were investigated in feeding and starving turbot larvae from hatching up to an age of 53 days. The study included the whole-larvae parameters of length, dry weight and relative condition; the organ-related characteristics otolith diameter and intestinal histology; and the biochemical indicators fatty acids, ascorbic acid, RNA, DNA and total protein. Starvation was started at day 3, 9, 16, 23 and 27, and starved larvae were compared with feeding larvae from the same rearing group. After onset of starvation, lipid droplets in the intestinal epithelial cells disappeared within 24 h. Later; the influence of starvation also became apparent in most of the other indicators studied. Relative condition decreased by about 5%/day and relative otolith diameter increased by about 5%/day. A histologically observed total disappearance of chylomicrons and lipid droplets in the intestinal epithelial cells was in accordance with a drop in dry weight, protein content, and the fatty acids 18:1Ω-9, 20:5Ω-3 (EPA) and Ω-3 HUFA (Highly Unsaturated Fatty Acids), as well as the RNA/DNA ratio in starved larvae. However, most of the indicators studied showed such a high variation between individual rearing groups that only the parameters lipid droplets in intestinal epithelial cells, relative condition and relative otolith diameter seem useful for detecting starvation in turbot larvae.Instituto Español de Oceanografí

Critical review of methods for risk ranking of food related hazards, based on risks for human health.

This study aimed to critically review methods for ranking risks related to food safety and dietary hazards on the basis of their anticipated human health impacts. A literature review was performed to identify and characterize methods for risk ranking from the fields of food, environmental science and socio-economic sciences. The review used a predefined search protocol, and covered the bibliographic databases Scopus, CAB Abstracts, Web of Sciences, and PubMed over the period 1993-2013. All references deemed relevant, on the basis of of predefined evaluation criteria, were included in the review, and the risk ranking method characterized. The methods were then clustered - based on their characteristics - into eleven method categories. These categories included: risk assessment, comparative risk assessment, risk ratio method, scoring method, cost of illness, health adjusted life years, multi-criteria decision analysis, risk matrix, flow charts/decision trees, stated preference techniques and expert synthesis. Method categories were described by their characteristics, weaknesses and strengths, data resources, and fields of applications. It was concluded there is no single best method for risk ranking. The method to be used should be selected on the basis of risk manager/assessor requirements, data availability, and the characteristics of the method. Recommendations for future use and application are provided