Organic Food and Agriculture - Ethics

Organic food is produced without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Four further exclusions in organic production are: genetically modified organisms (GMOs), irradiation, prophylactic antibiotics, and engineered nanoparticles. These six exclusions differentiate organic agriculture from chemical agriculture. Agriculture and food harvesting and production date back millennia, and until about a century ago that history is de facto organic. The Industrial Revolution ushered in an era of novel production strategies. Agriculture was not immune to new views of industrialization and reductionism. Advances in chemistry enabled some implementation of such views. Early in the diffusion of chemical farming practices, the Austrian mystic Rudolf Steiner (1865–1924) called for a differentiated agriculture free of these new synthetic chemical inputs. The terminology, theory, and practices of biodynamic agriculture evolved (in the 1920s and 1930s) from Steiner’s Agriculture Course of 1924. It was a guided evolution, coordinated by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (1899–1961) in Switzerland. The UK agriculturist, Lord Northbourne (1896–1982), invited Pfeiffer to lead a conference on biodynamics at his farm in Kent (in 1939). The following year Northbourne published his manifesto of organic farming, “Look to the Land.” In that book, he coined the term “organic farming” and wrote of a contest of “organic versus chemical farming”.The ideas and ideals of organic farming quickly proliferated internationally off the back of Northbourne’s 1940 book. Organic farming is now practiced in at least 179 countries, accounts for 50.9 million agricultural hectares, and a market value of US$ 81.6 billion (€75 billion)

The living standards of families with children reporting low incomes

The Government has high-profile child poverty targets which are assessed using a measure of income, as recorded in the Household Below Average Income series (HBAI). However, income is an imperfect measure of living standards. Previous analysis suggests that some children in households with low income do not have commensurately low living standards. This report aims to document the extent to which this is true, focusing on whether children in low-income households have different living standards depending on whether their parents are employed, self-employed, or workless

Exploring What Men\u27s Perception of a \u27Good\u27 Family Is, and How This Understanding Shapes Their Roles and Functioning Within Their Family

This study was based on the belief that the dynamics of personal relationships is the basis of social life and personal well-being. There is growing support in the literature however suggesting that the gap between men\u27s family relationship functioning, and their ideals of how life ought to be is widening. The purpose of this research therefore was to explore through men\u27s own experiences what their perception of a \u27good\u27 family is, and how this understanding shapes their roles and functioning within their family. Using the three concepts of family as a symbolic structure of meaning, masculinity and cognition, as the theoretical framework to guide the study, four men participated in unstructured interviews. Results were analysed utilising the symbolic interaction perspective incorporating Kelley\u27s Personal Construct theory and Goldstein\u27s Cognitive-Humanistic approach. Findings highlight the implications for working with men in the human services and the inadequacies of current deficit approaches. A recommendation for development of improved conceptual models based on empowerment and strength perspectives is suggested if meeting men\u27s needs and improving their relationships within their families is to be realised

Noise diffraction patterns eliminated in coherent optical systems

Lens rotation technique of noise diffraction pattern elimination spreads diffracted energy, normally concentrated over small area of image, over much larger annular area. Technique advantages include simplified lens selecting process, reduced clean room requirements, and low cost equipment requirements

Elimination of coherent noise in a coherent light imaging system

Optical imaging systems using coherent light introduce objectionable noise into the output image plane. Dust and bubbles on and in lenses cause most of the noise in the output image. This noise usually appears as bull's-eye diffraction patterns in the image. By rotating the lens about the optical axis these diffraction patterns can be essentially eliminated. The technique does not destroy the spatial coherence of the light and permits spatial filtering of the input plane

The Hurricane : March-Two Step

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-ps/2347/thumbnail.jp

The implications of staff 'churn' for nurse managers, staff, and patients

▶ In this article, the term "churn" is used not only because of the degree of change to staffing, but also because some of the reasons for staff movement are not classified as voluntary turnover. ▶ The difficulties for the nurse managing a unit with the degree of "churn" should not be under-estimated. ▶ Changes to skill mix and the proportions of full-time, agency, and temporary staff present challenges in providing clinical leadership, scheduling staff, performance management, and supervision. ▶ Perhaps more importantly, it is likely that there is an impact on the continuity of care provided in the absence of continuity of staffing. ▶ A greater understanding of the human and financial costs and consequences, and a willingness to change established practices at the institutional and ward level, are needed