The role of empathy in food literacy initiatives in schools

Abstract. The multidisciplinary research on empathy, commonly agreed to be the ability to take another person’s perspective, has come a long way in the attempt to describe and understand its wide scope of action. This master’s thesis intends to explore the role of empathy in food literacy initiatives in the observed case studies, specifically in their attempt to foster prosocial food choices. Food literacy is part of a larger paradigm which intends not only to educate people about healthy eating, but providing both critical and functional knowledge regarding food-related decisions. As this thesis’ focus is to understand the role of empathy in promoting prosocial food choices, food literacy inside the school environment was utilised as the channel. In order to understand the role of empathy in food literacy at school phenomenon in practice, this thesis’ methodological approach was a multiple case study, which brought together 3 food literacy initiatives in 3 very diverse school scenarios: the Food Literacy course in Britannia Secondary School in Canada, the Landless Workers Movement Itinerant School in Brazil and the Fairtrade Schools in the United Kingdom. The adopted data analysis method was an inductive content analysis of the cases official releases, other relevant documents and two open-ended interviews. The conclusion is that the role of empathy in food literacy initiatives in schools are three: expanding affiliation, betting on the collective and biosphere consciousness. This thesis did not test the causal relationship of empathy in food literacy and food choices, but utilised a combination of literature on empathy and food consumption as well as case studies to justify its positions in the findings

Agroforestry as a climate change mitigation practice in smallholder farming:evidence from Kenya

The promotion of agroforestry as a mitigation practice requires an understanding of the economic benefits and its acceptability to farmers. This work examines the agroecological and socio-economic factors that condition profitability and acceptance of agroforestry by smallholder farmers in Western Kenya. We differentiate the use of trees according to the permanence of carbon sequestration, introducing a distinction between practices with “high mitigation benefits” (timber) and practices with “low mitigation benefits” (fuelwood). This study goes beyond the analysis of incentives to plant trees to identify incentives to plant trees that lead to high mitigation outcomes. We show that environmental factors shaping the production system largely drive the choice for planting trees with high mitigation benefits. Most trees in the area are used for fuelwood, and the charcoal economy outweighs economic factors influencing planting of trees with high mitigation benefits. Larger households tend to produce more fuelwood, while high mitigation uses are positively related to the education level of the household head, and to the belief that trees play a positive role for the environment. Where trees contribute significantly to incomes, the norm is that they are owned by men. We conclude that although agroforestry is not perceived to be more profitable than traditional agricultural practices, it plays an important economic and environmental role by supporting subsistence through provision of fuelwood and could relieve pressure upon common forest resources. In areas with high tree cover, it also represents a way of storing capital to deal with risks and cope with uncertainty

Diatoms as a paleoproductivity proxy in the NW Iberian coastal upwelling system (NE Atlantic)

The objective of the current work is to improve our understanding of how water column diatom's abundance and assemblage composition is seasonally transferred from the photic zone to seafloor sediments. To address this, we used a dataset derived from water column, sediment trap and surface sediment samples recovered in the NW Iberian coastal upwelling system. Diatom fluxes (2.2 (+/- 5.6) 10(6) valves m(-2) d(-1)) represented the majority of the siliceous microorganisms sinking out from the photic zone during all studied years and showed seasonal variability. Contrasting results between water column and sediment trap diatom abundances were found during downwelling periods, as shown by the unexpectedly high diatom export signals when diatom- derived primary production achieved their minimum levels. They were principally related to surface sediment remobilization and intense Minho and Douro river discharge that constitute an additional source of particulate matter to the inner continental shelf. In fact, contributions of allochthonous particles to the sinking material were confirmed by the significant increase of both benthic and freshwater diatoms in the sediment trap assemblage. In contrast, we found that most of the living diatom species blooming during highly productive upwelling periods were dissolved during sinking, and only those resistant to dissolution and the Chaetoceros and Leptocylindrus spp. resting spores were susceptible to being exported and buried. Fur-thermore, Chaetoceros spp. dominate during spring-early summer, when persistent northerly winds lead to the upwelling of nutrient-rich waters on the shelf, while Leptocylindrus spp. appear associated with late-summer upwelling relaxation, characterized by water column stratification and nutrient depletion. These findings evidence that the contributions of these diatom genera to the sediment's total marine diatom assemblage should allow for the reconstruction of different past upwelling regimes.CAIBEX [CTM2007-66408-C02-01/MAR]; REIMAGE [CTM2011-30155-C03-03]; Spanish Government, EXCAPA project [10MDS402013PR]; Xunta de Galicia; EU FEDER [INTERREG 2009/2011-0313/RAIA/E]; RAIA. co [INTERREG2011/2013-052/RAIA.co/1E]; CALIBERIA project [PTDC/MAR/102045/2008]; Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT-Portugal) [COMPETE/FEDER-FCOMP01-0124-FEDER-010599]; Xunta de Galicia (Spain) [SFRH/BPD/111433/2015]; FCT (Portugal) [SFRH/BPD/111433/2015]; [SFRH/BD/88439/2012

Impacto do robustecimento de sistemas no desempenho de serviços Internet

O recurso a medidas preventivas, no âmbito da Segurança de Sistemas Informáticos, tem uma importância cada vez maior. Neste contexto, os mecanismos do tipo Role-Based Access Control - RBAC representam uma das abordagens mais promissoras. Todavia, para que sejam largamente aceites, é desejável que: i) tenham um impacto reduzido no desempenho dos sistemas e aplicações, ii) sejam escaláveis e iii) sejam facilmente administráveis. Para além da abordagem RBAC, existem outros mecanismos complementares, para a detecção e contenção de erros. Por exemplo, mecanismos como o - PAX intervêm ao nível da gestão de memória efectuada pelo núcleo do sistema operativo, tornando um sistema virtualmente imune a situações do tipo buffer overflow. Neste artigo descreve-se uma aplicação (e respectiva avaliação) do mecanismo RBAC da plataforma grsecurity, baseado em listas de controle de acesso (ACLs), em conjunção com a plataforma PAX. Em traços gerais, e para a gama de testes utilizada, concluímos que, para serviços nos quais a memória é partilhada entre os vários fios de execução que fazem o atendimento dos pedidos, o impacto do hardening no desempenho dos serviços é mínimo; já em situações em que a memória não é partilhada, a intervenção dos mecanismos de validação PAX torna-se evidente, prejudicando o desempenho global dos serviços

Navigation Facility for High Accuracy Offline Trajectory and Attitude Estimation in Airborne Applications

The paper focuses on a navigation facility, relying on commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technology, developed to generate high-accuracy attitude and trajectory measurements in postprocessing. Target performance is cm-level positioning with tenth of degree attitude accuracy. The facility is based on the concept of GPS-aided inertial navigation but comprises carrier-phase differential GPS (CDGPS) processing and attitude estimation based on multiantenna GPS configurations. Expected applications of the system include: (a) performance assessment of integrated navigation systems, developed for general aviation aircraft and medium size unmanned aircraft systems (UAS); (b) generation of reference measurements to evaluate the flight performance of airborne sensors (e.g., radar or laser); and (c) generation of reference trajectory and attitude for improving imaging quality of airborne remote sensing data. The paper describes system architecture, selected algorithms for data processing and integration, and theoretical performance evaluation. Experimental results are also presented confirming the effectiveness of the implemented approach

Seminários itinerantes sobre comunicação e agronegócio: contribuição para a melhoria da cobertura jornalística sobre o meio rural no Paraná.

Este artigo aborda os resultados do projeto Seminários Itinerantes sobre Comunicação e Agronegócio (Secoagro), liderado pela Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa) e pela Associação de Jornalistas do Agronegócio do Paraná (AJAP). Entre 2008 e 2009, foram realizados 19 seminários técnicos e 8 dias de campo sobre as principais cadeias produtivas do Paraná para 1600 jornalistas e estudantes de jornalismo das seis principais regiões-pólo do Estado. O projeto tem o objetivo de contribuir com a formação de profissionais e estudantes de comunicação social, propiciando condições para que aprofundem seu conhecimento sobre as principais cadeias produtivas de suas regiões e produzam matérias jornalísticas críticas e contextualizadas, a fim de contribuir para o incremento da informação publicada pelos veículos de comunicação

Textile characteristics of fiber from Huacaya alpacas (Vicugna pacos)

Fiber from alpacas represents a substantial component of economic output for South American countries. In this study it determined the textile characteristics of fibers obtained from Huacaya alpacas raised at the South American Camelids Research and Development Center-Lachocc (CRDC-Lachocc) located at The National University of Huancavelica (UNH). Fleece samples were obtained from the mid-side rib area of 74 white alpacas (42 females and 32 males) of varying ages. The Average Fiber Diameter (AFD), Standard Deviation of the Average Fiber Diameter (SDAFD), Fiber Diameter Coefficient of Variation (FDCV), Comfort Factor (CF) and Staple Length (SL) were measured as textile characteristics and related to sex and age group. Most of the fleece samples could be classified as baby alpaca fleece according to the Peruvian Technical Standard classification (231.301.2014). Sex had no influence on any textile characteristic (p > 0.05). Meanwhile, age affected only AFD and CF (p < 0.05). Together the results indicated that alpacas farmed at CRDC-Lachocc had good potential to produce high quality fibers

Soja, saúde e alimentação: perguntas e resposta mais freqüentes.

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Genesis reversed: climate change impacts on agriculture and livelihoods in mixed crop-livestock systems of East Africa

Climate-induced livelihood transitons in the agricultural systems of Africa are increasingly likely. There has been only limited study on what such transitons might look like, but it is clear that the implicatons could be profound in relaton to social, environmental, economic and politcal efects at local and natonal levels. The work here was set up to test the hypothesis that sedentary farmers who currently keep livestock in transiton zones that may become warmer and possibly drier in the future may ultmately be forced to increase their reliance on livestock vis-a?-vis cropping in the future. We carried out feldwork in 12 sites in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to understand how farming systems have been changing in the recent past. We then evaluated what the impacts of these changes, and further changes in the same directon, may be on household incomes and food security in the coming decades, using crop and household modelling. We found no direct evidence for the hypothesised extensifcaton of agricultural producton in the study sites. Indeed, the processes of farming systems evoluton in East Africa are substantally conditoned by powerful socio-cultural processes, it appears