A semiotic polyocular framework for multidisciplinary research in relation to multifunctional farming and rural development

The concept of multifunctional farming rises out of a problematization of the role of agriculture in society and, in particular, in relation to rural development. Hitherto multifunctional farming has primarily been used as a notion on the relationship between agriculture and society concerning the range of commodity and non-commodity goods that farms provide for society. But the agro-economic achievements together with societal development have led to a point where praxis is questioned and discourse potentially reopened. In an indirect way, the notion of multifunctionality reflects, that aspects not captured by the distinction between commodity and non-commodity need to be reintroduced. This paper offers a new framework (theoretical and methodical) suggesting a poly-ocular multidisciplinary approach and constructivist semiotic understanding of multifunctionality, which supports dialogue and interactions between the approaches, involved. Each research perspective has its own construction of the object of ‘farming’ and the ‘environment’ of farming; and thereby also its own perception of the functions and problems of farming. It therefore comes as no surprise that problems of communication are experienced between different perspectives, or that confusion on shared notions can cause frustrations and difficulties for multidisciplinary studies of multifunctionality. The present framework introduces a notion of multifunctionality, which enables the explicit handling of different perspectives by way of a distinction between the ‘immediate object’, as it appears to the observer, and the ‘dynamical object’, which represents the potentiality of the object in itself. From such semiotic point of view, the notion of multifunctionality becomes genuinely multidisciplinary. Multifunctionality cannot be reduced and included in one perspective, but has to be observed as a second order observation that involves reflexive communication between different perspectives and disciplines

Muligheder for antibiotikafri produktion af økologisk mælk og svinekød i Danmark

Muligheder for og udfordringer ved at lave en antibiotikafri økologisk produktion af mælk og svinekød er analyseret for to spor; antibiotikafri besætninger (spor 1) og antibiotikafri dyr (spor 2). Antibiotikafri besætninger kræver på kort og på lang sigt, en målrettet sundhedsfremmende indsats, som omfatter dyrenes omgivelser ude og inde, fodring, avlsmateriale og avlsmål, samt opmærksomhed og handlekraft i den daglige håndtering og pasning. Der skal være en handlingsplan klar for håndtering af syge dyr uden brug af antibiotika. Produktion efter spor 1 vil kræve en betydelig indsats. Sådan en produktion kan have virkninger på produktion (mælkeydelse og tilvækst). Mange af rutinerne vil sandsynligvis kræve flere arbejdstimer, samt ændringer i rutinerne. Der er mange muligheder for sikker adskillelse mellem to parallelle besætninger (ab-fri hhv. ikke ab-fri økologisk produktion) på samme bedrift, eller to nabo-bedrifter (spor 2) ved tydelig mærkning af dyr, registrering samt fysisk adskillelse, samt på produktniveau. Sikre dokumentationssystemer, muligheder for fysisk adskillelse, et højt hygiejneniveau, og en generel stor sundhedsfremmende indsats betragtes som forudsætninger på alle niveauer. Mange danske økologiske besætninger må forventes at kunne indgå en produktion med en forholdsvis lille indsats. Det kunne være interessant at undersøge en ’hybridmodel’ som kombinerer Spor 1 og 2. Der er et behov for at forske i relevante alternativer til antibiotika, samt gentænke hvad vi forstår ved etisk forsvarlig sygdomsbehandling og ansvarlige handlinger i forhold til patienter i produktionsbesætninger, og i forhold til ansvarlig varetagelse af antibiotika

Evaluation and validity of the Danish version of the Adult Strabismus Questionnaire AS-20

PURPOSE: Assessing health-related quality of life in patients with strabismus is important in evaluating the clinical benefits of strabismus treatment. The purpose of this study was to translate the Adult Strabismus Quality of Life Questionnaire (AS-20) into Danish and evaluate its reliability and validity in adult patients with strabismus in Denmark. METHODS: The AS-20 was translated into Danish in accordance with standard international adopted methods. We presented the questionnaire to 64 adults with strabismus and to 13 non-strabismic adult controls. We tested the reliability of the Danish version by reassuring test–retest reliability, estimated the internal consistency, and analyzed the validity (discriminatory power) of the questionnaire by comparing patient scores with scores from control individuals. RESULTS: The Danish AS-20 produced high level of internal consistency (Cronbach’s α values) for both subscales (psychosocial: 0.95 and functional: 0.85). We found good discriminatory power of the AS-20. The patients scored significantly lower not only on AS-20 composite score (median =63, interquartile range [IQR] =44–79) compared to healthy individuals (median =98, IQR =93–100) (P<0.0001) but also on all individual questions in both subscales (psychosocial: 1–10 and functional: 11–20). CONCLUSION: The Danish version of AS-20 shows high reliability and validity, and in our opinion, AS-20 is therefore a suitable instrument for evaluating self-perceived psychosocial and functional influence of strabismus

Genetic Determinants of Human Longevity

In the last two decades, due to the continuous increase of lifespans in Westernsocieties, and the consequent growing of the elderly population, have witnessedan increase in the number of studies on biological and molecular factors able topromote healthy aging and reach longevity. The study of the genetic componentof human longevity demonstrated that it accounts for 25% of intra populationphenotype variance. The efforts made to characterize the genetic determinantssuggested that the maintenance of cellular integrity, inflammation, oxidativestress response, DNA repair, as well as the use of nutrients, represent the mostimportant pathways correlated with a longer lifespan. However, although aplethora of variants were indicated to be associated with human longevity, onlyvery few were successfully replicated in different populations, probably becauseof population specificity, missing heritability as well as a complex interactionamong genetic factors with lifestyle and cultural factors, which modulate theindividual chance of living longer. Thus, many challenges remain to be addressedin the search for the genetic components of human longevity. This Special Issue isaimed to unify the progress in the analysis of the genetic determinants of humanlongevity, to take stock of the situation and point to future directions of the field.We invite submissions for reviews, research articles, short-communicationsdealing with genetic association studies in human longevity, including all types ofgenetic variation, as well as the characterization of longevity-related genes