Swedish research in organic farming and food systems

In Sweden research is mainly conducted by researchers at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). The SLU departments of Soil Science, Ecology and Crop Production Science (now Crop Production Ecology), Entomology, Animal Nutrition and Management, Animal Breeding and Genetics, Animal Environment and Health, Agricultural Biosystems and Technology, Crop Science and Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden are conducting research. This research is mainly financed by the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (Formas) through the national programme for organic agricultural research. Furthermore SLU research is funded under the programme for applied research for experimentation and development in organic farming, which is financed by the Swedish Board of Agriculture (SJV). Within the “Ekoforsk” Programme based at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) university scientists are commonly cooperating with advisors connected to private and public extension service institutions and organisations. Finally, the Swedish Farmers´Foundation for Agricultural Research (SLF), which is a levy board, funds a substantial part of research in organic farming, especially applied research in organic primary production systems

Bone quality and mesenchymal stromal cell capacity in total hip replacement: Significance for stem osseointegration measured by radiostereometric analysis

Immediate implant stability is a key factor for success in cementless total hip arthroplasty (THA). Cementless techniques were originally designed for middle-aged patients with normal bone structure and healing capacity, but indications have expanded to also include elderly patients. Poor local bone quality, as a result of osteoporosis (OP), and age-related geometric changes of the proximal femur, may jeopardize initial implant stability and lead to increased migration of the implant components thereby compromising biological fixation and osseointegration. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are essential in the process of osseointegration. Age-related dysfunction of MSCs is suggested to be a main contributory factor in altered bone repair with aging and therefore may influence osseointegration. The hypothesis of this prospective clinical study was that preoperative bone quality and MSC capacity dictate stability and osseointegration of femoral stems in cementless THA, especially in women after menopause. A total of 61 consecutive women (age <80 yrs) scheduled for cementless THA for primary hip osteoarthritis (OA) were screened for undiagnosed primary or secondary OP, vitamin D insufficiency and other metabolic bone diseases. Prior to THA, patients underwent aspiration of iliac crest bone marrow for analysis of MSC capacity using optimized isolation and culturing protocols. All patients received a cementless total hip implant with an anatomically designed hydroxyapatite (HA) coated femoral stem and ceramic-ceramic bearings. Per-operative biopsy of the intertrochanteric bone was taken for ex vivo analysis of the local cancellous bone quality using micro-CT imaging and biomechanical testing. After surgery, stem migration and osseointegration was monitored for two years using radiostereometric analysis. The majority of women with hip OA was osteopenic or osteoporotic. These conditions were associated with increased periprosthetic bone loss in the proximal femur and impaired initial stability and delayed osseointegration of the femoral stem. Altered intraosseous dimensions of the proximal femur, as well as aging, also had adverse effects on initial stem stability and were associated with delayed osseointegration. Local bone mineral density of the operated hip and the quality of intertrochanteric cancellous bone had less influence than expected on implant migration. The THA females showed differences in the osteogenic properties of their MSCs. Patients with MSCs of low in vitro osteogenic capacity displayed increased stem subsidence after the initial 3 months settling period and thereby delayed osseointegration. The results suggest that decreased skeletal health, such as low systemic BMD and decreased osteogenic properties of bone marrow MSCs, has major influence on early stability and osseointegration of cementless hip prostheses in female patients.Luun laadun ja mesenkymaalisten kantasolujen toiminnan vaikutus lonkan tekonivelen paranemiseen Tekonivelleikkaus on erinomainen toimenpide lonkan nivelrikon hoidossa. Jos leikkausmenetelmäksi valitaan biologisesti kiinnittyvä tekonivel, olennaisinta on saavuttaa komponenttien välitön stabiliteetti. Se mahdollistaa uudisluun kasvun implantin karhennetulle pinnalle. Ikääntymiseen liittyvä luuston haurastuminen ja reisiluun yläosan ydinontelon laajentuminen voivat heikentää tekonivelen komponenttien tukevuutta ja näin hidastaa niiden kiinnittymistä luuhun. Tällainen on mahdollista erityisesti naisilla vaihdevuosien jälkeen. Näiden potilaiden yksilölliset erot luun parantavien solujen (mesenkymaalisten kantasolujen) määrässä ja toiminnassa voivat osaltaan vaikuttaa heidän tekoniveltensä kiinnittymisnopeuteen. Tähän prospektiiviseen kliiniseen tutkimukseen osallistui 61 naispotilasta, joille tehtiin sementöimätön lonkan tekonivelleikkaus nivelrikon takia. Ennen leikkausta potilaille tehtiin seulontatutkimukset osteoporoosin ja muiden luuston aineenvaihduntasairauksien tunnistamiseksi. Leikkauksen yhteydessä potilailta otettiin luuydinnäyte suoliluusta, josta analysoitiin mesenkymaalisten kantasolujen jakautumis- ja erilaistumiskyky luunsoluiksi. Leikkauksen aikana otettiin näyte reisiluun yläosan hohkaluun hienorakenteen ja mekaanisten ominaisuuksien arvioimiseksi. Leikkauksen jälkeen tekonivelen reisikomponentin kolmiulotteista migraatiota ja kiinnittymistä seurattiin radiostereometrisellä analyysillä (RSA) 2 vuoden ajan. Valtaosalla potilaista oli alentunut luuntiheys (osteopenia tai osteoporoosi). Osteopeenisillä ja osteoporoottisilla potilailla todettiin kiihtynyttä luukatoa tekonivelen reisikomponentin ympärillä sekä komponentin lisääntynyttä migraatiota ja hidastunutta kiinnittymistä. Reisiluun yläosan ydinontelon laajentuminen ja potilaan korkea ikä lisäsivät reisikomponentin migraatiota, mutta reisiluun hohkaluun laatu ei vaikuttanut migraation määrään. Potilailla, joilla todettiin mesenkymaalisten kantasolujen alentunut kyky erilaistua luusoluiksi in vitro, todettiin reisikomponentin lisääntynyttä migraatiota ja hidastunutta kiinnittymistä. Tulokset osoittavat, että ikääntymiseen liittyvät luustomuutokset ja yksilölliset erot mesenkymaalisten kantasolujen määrässä ja toiminnassa voivat osaltaan vaikuttaa lonkan tekonivelten paranemiseen naisilla vaihdevuosien jälkeen.Siirretty Doriast

“Sharing” Copyrights: The Copyright Implications of User Content in Social Media

Copyright law in America, in its current stage of development, does not sit well with common social media practices. This article explores the copyright implications of user content on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. It first examines the copyrightability of user-generated content, and the broad licenses that users grant by agreeing to the vague Terms of Use that social media sites set forth. The article then looks to user-found content and activities such as sharing or pinning the creative works of others. Through these practices and conflicting Terms of Use, social media websites both encourage and prohibit widespread copyright infringement. With the websites likely protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act safe harbor provision, liability falls on the unknowing users. Existing copyright laws and jurisprudence do not adequately address the expanding disregard for copyrights in online forums, and only through the legislative process can these issues be addressed

The Privacies of Life: Automatic License Plate Recognition is Unconstitutional Under the Mosaic Theory of Fourth Amendment Privacy Law

Abstrac

Regulatory and monetary policies meet "too big to fail"

In 2010, the U.S. economy has been showing signs of pulling out of its tailspin. But questions remain about why it took so much monetary policy firepower to deal with the crisis.Global financial crisis ; Monetary policy ; Regulation ; Bank failures ; Financial institutions

I HÄNDELSERNAS CENTRUM 2001. En presentation av verksamheten vid Centrum för uthålligt lantbruk

Skriften är en presentation av verksamheten vid Centrum för uthålligt lantbruk, CUL, under 2001. CUL är ett samarbetsforum för forskare och andra med intresse för forskning inom ekologiskt lantbruk och lantbrukets uthållighetsfrågor. CUL arbetar med utveckling av tvärvetenskapliga forskningsmetoder och för samverkan och samplanering av insatser för: • forskning • utvecklingsarbete • utbildning • informationsspridning År 2001 var ett mycket händelserikt år för forskningen inom det ekologiska lantbruket i Sverige. Ekologiskt lantbruk och uthållig livsmedelsproduktion debatterades aktivt i media och de frågor som CUL arbetar med var mer aktuella än de någonsin varit. Nya medel till forskningen inom ekologiskt lantbruk gjorde att en mängd nya forskningsprojekt kunde ta sin början under 2001. CUL:s utmaning blev att se till att samordningen fungerar. CUL arrangerade även konferensen "Ekologiskt lantbruk" under året

Fed intervention: managing moral hazard in financial crises

At the end of September 2008, U.S. policymakers had been working for more than a year to contain the shock waves from plunging home prices and the subsequent financial market turmoil. For the Federal Reserve, the crisis has given new meaning to the adage that extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. The central bank has dusted off Depression-era powers and rewritten old rules to address serious risks to the global financial system.Monetary policy - United States ; Financial crises ; Financial markets ; Federal Reserve System

Jag sluter nu ett förbund med er : En kritisk forskningsöversikt med syftet att nå ett rimligt grundat svar på frågan om Sinaiförbundets ursprung

Several texts in the Old Testament discuss the Sinaitic covenant but not all of them present an established covenant form and concept. It is the elaborate and conscious covenant form that will be the focus of this thesis and we can see such an established covenant form e.g. in Deuteronomy. The thesis will critically evaluate and synthesize the major research positions regarding the origins of the Sinaitic covenant, for the purpose of finding out from where this established covenant from may have come, when we can see it attested in the Biblical texts and also, what its function may have been for the people of Israel. Five Old Testament texts will prove important when determining from where and when the covenant, in its established form, came. These texts are Deuteronomy, Exod. 19-24; 34; Josh. 24 and Hos. 6:7; 8:1. Similarities between covenantal texts in the Old Testament and political treaties from the Hittite Empire and Assyria were discovered in the middle of the 20th century, and scholars have since then attempted to show an influence from the treaties on the biblical texts. I follow in their footsteps in this study and while I do not agree with G. E. Mendenhall that Exod. 19-24 is directly influenced by the Hittite treaties, I do agree with D. J. McCarthy, who argues that it is in fact the Assyrian treaties that have influenced Deuteronomy. The original book of Deuteronomy, Urdeuteronomium, is often regarded as a composition from the time between the fall of the Kingdom of Israel (721 BCE) and the reign of Josiah (ca. 640-609 BCE) which strongly suggests that at this time Israel knows of an established covenant with YHWH. We find additional support for this in Josh. 24, which clearly speaks of a covenant between YHWH and Israel. L. Perlitt convincingly argues that Josh. 24 came about during the reign of Manasseh (ca. 687-642 BCE) and Exod. 34 is also by some scholars considered to be a seventh century composition. A setting in Judah in the seventh century BCE for the established and structured covenant between YHWH and Israel is highly probable. Assyria is at this time very powerful, the Kingdom of Israel has fallen and Judah is an Assyrian vassal. It is at this point the Sinaitic covenant is consciously drafted as an analogy of the Assyrian treaties. By doing this, it makes the covenant a polemic counteract against Assyria, with the purpose of preserving Israel’s belief in and worship of YHWH

Gudsbild och verklighetsuppfattning i Predikaren

In this essay I aim to give an interpretation on the book of Ecclesiastes, focusing on how the author (here called Qohelet) regards God, and the relationship between God and man. I will also examine the way Qohelet views reality. A fairly common idea is that the book of Ecclesiastes is quite pessimistic and full of contradictions, and I argue that the book rather represents a realistic way of looking at life, than a pessimistic one. Regarding the view on God and God’s relationship with man, I compare the ideas of T. Kronholm and C. L. Seow, as their opinions differ in some areas. I also look at a selected text that can shed some light on how Qohelet saw God. I focus mainly on textual analysis when it comes to whether Qohelet represents a pessimistic or a realistic worldview, where I examine certain ideas that are typical to Qohelet. I deal with his contradictions, with the idea that the unborn child is lucky, who has not seen all the horrors of the world, and I also make an in-depth analysis of the word הֶבֶל (“vanity”), which is usually seen indicating something resigned and negative. I have come to the conclusion that while at first glance, God seems to be almost absent in the book of Ecclesiastes, he is actually quite active. There is however a distance between God and man, according to Qohelet. God works in mysterious ways, and man can never fully understand God. What he can do, is enjoy the good in life, when God gives it to him. There is a time for everything, and to be able to find that time, and make the most of it, is what everyone should strive for. I have discovered that if you take the time to read between the lines in the book of Ecclesiastes, and try to delve a little deeper, you will find that most statements that at first may appear pessimistic or negative, really can be said to be realistic. All Qohelet does is ascertain the way things really are, he makes no assessment on whether that is good or bad