Ambivalentie en strategische onwetenheid rond vlees; Reflectie op de Agrofoodmonitor

Relations between the agri-food sector and society are a source of concern, in particular with regard to in-tensive livestock farming. The agri-food monitor project was set up in order to define and measure socie-ty's valuation of the agri-food sector. Because the concept of societal valuation also raises many questions, this parallel study was added in order to create space for reflection on societal valuation. The character of this reflection has been informed by widespread signals of ambivalence towards meat as well as the suspicion that because of that ambivalence people often do not want to know too many details about meat and livestock farming. This can complicate research into societal valuation. The leading ques-tion of this study is whether and how insights into ambivalence and strategic ignorance can be helpful for understanding societal valuation, in particular with respect to meat. Some questions on this topic have al-so been added to the agri-foodmonitor itself. Ambivalence (conflicting valuation) with respect to meat has increased in recent decades because on the one hand most people are attached to eating meat while on the other hand, a great deal of unsettling information on intensive livestock farming is in the air. Ambivalence leads to emotional agitation, especially when choices relating to cherished habits are involved. One way to deal with that agitation is to keep un-welcome information at a distance, in this case information about livestock farming. In doing so, people are 'strategically ignorant'. Ambivalences in society remain partly hidden by this mechanism. This study looked at the role of ambivalence and strategic ignorance by studying existing literature and by carrying out interviews with fifteen consumers about what they did and didn't want to know about food. Three themes received particular attention: rapid-growth broilers, the use of antibiotics in livestock farming and inspiration with respect to food

Voedsel labelen met land van herkomst: leuk, maar geen voorwaarde. Onderzoek onder Nederlandse consumenten

De vermelding van het land van herkomst is in de Europese Unie verplicht voor enkele agrarische producten, te weten: rundvlees, honing, verse groenten en fruit en olijfolie. In Nederland wordt het land van herkomst buiten de verplichte etikettering van deze productgroepen nog nauwelijks vermeld. Binnen het Europees Parlement wordt gedacht over uitbreiding van de verplichte herkomstetikettering naar andere productgroepen. Aanleiding voor het ministerie van Economische Zaken, Landbouw en Innovatie (EL&I) om onderzoek te laten doen naar de waarde van de land-van-herkomstaanduiding op het etiket van voedselproducten vanuit consumentenperspectief. Daarbij is ook gekeken naar de rol die herkomstetikettering bij de aanschaf van een voedselproduct speelt

Evaluation of the similarity of gene expression data estimated with SAGE and Affymetrix GeneChips

BACKGROUND: Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE) and microarrays have found awidespread application, but much ambiguity exists regarding the evaluation of these technologies. Cross-platform utilization of gene expression data from the SAGE and microarray technology could reduce the need for duplicate experiments and facilitate a more extensive exchange of data within the research community. This requires a measure for the correspondence of the different gene expression platforms. To date, a number of cross-platform evaluations (including a few studies using SAGE and Affymetrix GeneChips) have been conducted showing a variable, but overall low, concordance. This study evaluates these overall measures and introduces the between-ratio difference as a concordance measure pergene. RESULTS: In this study, gene expression measurements of Unigene clusters represented by both Affymetrix GeneChips HG-U133A and SAGE were compared using two independent RNA samples. After matching of the data sets the final comparison contains a small data set of 1094 unique Unigene clusters, which is unbiased with respect to expression level. Different overall correlation approaches, like Up/Down classification, contingency tables and correlation coefficients were used to compare both platforms. In addition, we introduce a novel approach to compare two platforms based on the calculation of differences between expression ratios observed in each platform for each individual transcript. This approach results in a concordance measure per gene (with statistical probability value), as opposed to the commonly used overall concordance measures between platforms. CONCLUSION: We can conclude that intra-platform correlations are generally good, but that overall agreement between the two platforms is modest. This might be due to the binomially distributed sampling variation in SAGE tag counts, SAGE annotation errors and the intensity variation between probe sets of a single gene in Affymetrix GeneChips. We cannot identify or advice which platform performs better since both have their (dis)-advantages. Therefore it is strongly recommended to perform follow-up studies of interesting genes using additional techniques. The newly introduced between-ratio difference is a filtering-independent measure for between-platform concordance. Moreover, the between-ratio difference per gene can be used to detect transcripts with similar regulation on both platforms

Personal Recovery in People With a Psychotic Disorder:A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Associated Factors

Background: Personal recovery (PR) is a subjective, multidimensional concept, and quantitative research using PR as an outcome is rapidly increasing. This systematic review is intended to support the design of interventions that contribute to PR in psychotic disorders, by providing an overview of associated factors and their weighted importance to PR: clinical factors, social factors, and socio-demographic characteristics are included, and factors related to the concept of PR (organized into CHIME dimensions). Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted from inception to March 2020. Quantitative studies that had used a validated questionnaire assessing the concept of PR were included. Mean effect sizes for the relationship between PR-scale total scores and related factors were calculated using meta-analyses. Sources of heterogeneity were examined using meta-regression tests. Results: Forty-six studies, that used (a total of) eight PR measures, showed that in clinical factors, affective symptoms had a medium negative association with PR-scale total scores (r = −0.44, 95%CI −0.50 to −0.37), while positive, negative and general symptoms had small negative correlations. No association was found with neuro-cognition. Social factors (support, work and housing, and functioning) showed small positive correlations. Gender and age differences had barely been researched. Large associations were found for PR-scale total scores with the CHIME dimensions hope (r = 0.56, 95%CI 0.48–0.63), meaning in life (r = 0.48, 95%CI 0.38–0.58) and empowerment (r = 0.53, 95%CI 0.42–0.63); while medium associations were found with connectedness (r = 0.34, 95%CI 0.43–0.65) and identity (r = 0.43, 95%CI 0.35–0.50). Levels of heterogeneity were high, sources included: the variety of PR measures, variations in sample characteristics, publication bias, variations in outcome measures, and cultural differences. Discussion: Most interventions in mental healthcare aim to reduce symptoms and improve functioning. With regard to stimulating PR, these interventions may benefit from also focusing on enhancing hope, empowerment, and meaning in life. The strength of these findings is limited by the challenges of comparing separate CHIME dimensions with questionnaires assessing the concept of PR, and by the high levels of heterogeneity observed. Future research should focus on the interaction between elements of PR and clinical and social factors over time

Samen eten doet goed!

Het ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport (VWS) en het ministerie van Economische Zaken, Innovatie en Landbouw (EL&I) willen weten welke rol 'samen eten' kan spelen in het verbeteren van de gezondheid van mensen. De invloed van 'samen eten' is onderzocht door het concept van Resto VanHarte te doorgronden. Resto VanHarte wil de leefbaarheid in wijken en steden in heel Nederland verbeteren. Ze heeft daartoe eetgelegenheden georganiseerd waar mensen van diverse leeftijden, religies en culturen makkelijk naar toe kunnen. Eerst is literatuuronderzoek uitgevoerd. Vervolgens is kwalitatief onderzoek onder 37 bezoekers van Resto VanHarte uitgevoerd. Ook zijn vijf managers en horecacoördinatoren van Resto VanHarte geïnterviewd. Daarna is een vragenlijst onder de bezoekers van Resto VanHarte uitgedeeld, waar 286 mensen op hebben gereageerd

Het stimuleren van gezonde voedselkeuzes : onderzoek gericht op schoolkantines en zorginstellingen

In dit rapport is onderzocht op welke manier scholen en zorginstellingen voedsel aanbieden en hoe dit aanbod het voedselkeuzegedrag van leerlingen en de eetlust van ouderen beïnvloedt