Resiliens och lönsamhet i agrara produktionssystem vid stigande råvarupriser : en jämförande studie mellan ekologisk och konventionell växtodling

Växtodling i Sverige bedrivs huvudsakligen på två olika vis, konventionellt eller ekologiskt. Den största skillnaden mellan systemen är avsaknaden av handelsgödsel och bekämpningsmedel inom den ekologiska odlingen. Detta medför lägre avkastning och större ogräsproblematik. Vid en jämförelse av lönsamheten mellan de båda systemen har lönsamheten varit högre för den ekologiska växtodlingen under de senaste fem åren, detta på grund av högre avsalupriser för ekologiska grödor samt högre bidrag för ekologisk produktion. Dagens marknad har till följd av bland annat oroligheterna i Ukraina lett till höga, volatila och fluktuerande priser på insatsvaror till lantbruket vilket har gett ökade kostnader för växtodlare. Detta arbete har analyserat vilket odlingssystem som är mest resilient, ekonomiskt motståndskraftigt, mot ökade priser på insatsmedel, samt vilket system som gynnas ekonomiskt av högre prisnivåer. Författarna har genom modellering av två liknande växtodlingsgårdar kunnat se vad ökade prisnivåer på insatsmedel samt avsalugrödor gör med lönsamheten i respektive system. Ett ökat gödningspris påverkade de totala kostnaderna mest av de studerade insatsmedlen. Vid ökning av både försäljningspris och pris på insatsmedel ökade både produktioninriktningarnas lönsamhet. Den konventionella odlingens lönsamhet ökar dock mer vid en sådan utveckling då dess intäkter idag baseras på en mindre del bidrag som inte påverkas av prisuppgång.At the moment, conventional and organic crop cultivation are the two main specializations in Swedish plant farming. Organic farming differs from conventional farming in that it does not use commercial fertilizers or pesticides. This results in lesser yields and more weed issues. However, when comparing the profitability of the two methods, organic crop growing has been more profitable, due to higher sales prices and subsidy to organic production. As a result of, among other things, the instability in Ukraine, today's market has resulted in high, volatile, and shifting prices for agricultural inputs, resulting in higher expenses for crop growers. This study looked at which cultivation systems are the most economically resilient to rising input prices, as well as which systems benefit economically from higher pricing. Through modelation, two similar crop farms were designed to see how rising price levels did affect the profitability of each system. An increased fertilizer price affected the total costs of most of the inputs studied. The profitability of both production systems increased as the selling price and input prices increased

A short note on Merlin-Arthur protocols for subset sum

In the subset sum problem we are given n positive integers along with a target integer t. A solution is a subset of these integers summing to t. In this short note we show that for a given subset sum instance there is a proof of size $O^*(\sqrt{t})$ of what the number of solutions is that can be constructed in $O^*(t)$ time and can be probabilistically verified in time $O^*(\sqrt{t})$ with at most constant error probability. Here, the $O^*()$ notation omits factors polynomial in the input size $n\log(t)$.Comment: 2 page

“Normal citizens” versus “Rowdies”: police categorisations of protesters in Germany

The paper investigates police perceptions of protesters. Based on group discussions with riot police and interviews with high ranking officers, six domains are analysed as dimensions of a risk constellation contributing to the emergence of an enemy image of the protester. The findings suggest that labels describing the “police counterpart” often express distance and opposition (1) and depoliticise demonstrations (2). Furthermore, formal (3) and informal (4) categorisations of protesters as well as the perception of indications of threat in policing practice (5) are examined. Bipolar patterns of classification of protesters were found to be influential. Classifications are partly based in the law and partly in particularistic and normative subcultural attributions of legitimacy which police transfer into their organisational interpretive schemata distinguishing between legality/illegality. For explanatory means the study utilises perspectives of organisational sociology as well as the cultural distance between the police and the protesters (6). This is further elaborated using the social figure of the “normal citizen”, in which specific police conceptions of normality are condensed and which serves as a threshold for the perception of deviant protesters. Besides the implications for theory of democracy of the analysed clichés and enemy images the findings conclusively suggest that the distanced to hostile relationship between the police and some protesters does not merely represent a pedagogical or “practical” problem of the police, but is the expression of a certain conflict structure. In this structure organisational and individual factors on the side of the police as well as their actual conflict experience at demonstrations converge

Freedom and dependency from a feminist perspective - a comparison between Nina Björk, Martha C. Nussbaum and Simone de Beauvoir

This paper will deal with the complex interaction between our individual freedom (independence) and our deep need of other people (dependency). Western women often say that non-Western women are not free as a consequence of tradition and culture. It is rarer that we question our own so called freedom. My main purpose is to take a closer look at the relationship between independence and neediness in order to see why this relationship is problematic but also what good it might bring. This paper is an analysis of three prominent feminists? arguments regarding this matter. I have turned to Nina Björk, Martha C. Nussbaum and Simone de Beauvoir in order to find answers to my questions. My results are a reflection of the complications but also the possibilities that this interaction creates. Feminist theory is occupied with this question as well and my choice to consult the above mentioned feminists is no coincidence. Their some what opaque position is a trend within feminist theory which today lacks a coherent reference point as far as women and women's rights are concerned

How many cops to arrest climate chaos?:Mass policing of protests at COP26

In advance of the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) summit in Glasgow in 2021, Police Scotland insisted that human rights and facilitation would be central to their operation. When the event passed off peacefully, without any of the mass arrests and disorder seen at previous iterations of COP, the Police declared it a huge success. We draw on research with activists and officers to scrutinize this claim and analyse the policing of COP26. Literature on protest policing suggests that global summits are distinctive, because the interplay between the security of Heads of state and other dignitaries, the local community and protestors is heavily biased in favour of security at such events. We suggest that this remains the case, despite the police emphasis on facilitation. We conclude that the ‘human-rights based approach’ to policing is poorly defined and unevenly implemented and means different things to police and protestors. A fundamental rethinking of existing approaches and priorities is required for it to be meaningful