Linking food systems and human health : geographic variations in China = 链接食物系统与人类健康：中国城乡之间的差别

This paper is exploratory. It seeks to link the two dominant food systems of Chinawith impacts on human health, as measured by the increasing but differential incidence of non-communicable chronic diseases. China is passing through the Nutrition Transition where traditional diets are being replaced by high fat and meat diets, high calorie snacks and meals with high protein and oil intakes.The argument is constructed on the basis that in general urban citizens increasingly consume processed foods manufactured by the industrial food system. Rural people on the other hand remain consuming their traditional diets. Process foods derive from industrial agriculture while local food is derived in a self provisioning way from small mixed farms growing grains and vegetables and keeping farmyard livestock; the so-called, ‘one family; two systems’ way of peasant farming. The statistics from the China Yearbook, the North Carolina Nutrition study, 1993 to 2009 and the China Sanitation survey provide preliminary evidence to support this supposition at the macro scale. An associative link can be made that shows that food from the small mixed farm village environments is generally healthier than the fast food, processed diets of urban dwellers. This simplistic conclusion must be tempered by the effects of other life style behaviors that can also affect the health status of Chinese citizens, whether rural or urban. However, overall, there is evidence that suggests that as Chinese society becomes wealthier and more urbanized, the health status of citizens as measured by food related chronic diseases, becomes poorer. In terms of the incidence of chronic diseases, rural citizens are less at risk than urban citizens and this in large part is influenced by their food intake patterns which in turn reflect the two systems of food production (local and industrial) that prevail inChina. The paper concludes with some reflections on what this paradox means for food system research in emerging economies such asChina. 本文为探讨性，旨在把食物系统连系到对人类健康的影响。这影响可用非传染性长期病患发生率的不同程度的增加来作量度。中国正在通过“营养过渡”阶段，传统的饮食正被高脂肪及高肉类饮食、高热量零食、以至高蛋白质餐及多油餐所代替。文章的立论基础在于,普遍来说城市人曰渐多吃经过食物工业系统加工的食物, 而农村人则仍保持着传统饮食习惯。加工食物,由工业化的农业所生产; 而农村本土食物, 则通过小型农场种植谷物蔬菜以及饲养牲畜, 即所谓 “—家两制” 的农村种植方式而自给自足。 从中国年报、北卡罗连立洲1993—2009的研究、以及中国卫生调查所得的数字, 可以为以上的假设提供宏观程度上的初步证据。另—可以作出的相关连系, 显示农村环境中的小型混合式农场所生产的食物, —般比城市人进食的快餐及加工食物健康。这—简单化的结论, 当然需要加上其他因素，例如中国人民不论城乡的其他生活方式及行为, 对他们的康状况的影响。但总体来看, 有证据显示中国社会逐渐富裕及城市化的同时, 中国人民的健康状况正逐渐转差。这可以用食物相关的长期病患发生率来量度。从长期病患的发生率来说, 乡间人民的危险较城市居民为低, 而个中原因大部份来自他们不同的进食模式的影响, 这也反映出中国主流的两种食物生产系统(本土及工业化)。本文结语反思了这矛盾，对在中国这样的发展中经济所做的食物系统研究有何启示

Newcomers to farming : towards a new rurality in Europe

One of the oldest laments in agrarian development has been over the ageing and loss of the farm population but, for the first time since the Second World War, a noticeable return to farming is now taking place across most of Europe. These farm entrants we classify as Continuers and Newcomers. Research shows that they have different characteristics. Newcomers are characterized by their profiles (female and higher education), the barriers they face (access to land, capital and markets) and by the business models that they adopt (pluriactive and multifunctional). This paper describes the main features of Newcomers as they form a new and dynamic group in European rural society and contribute strong social motivations and practices to farming. This change may be referred to as a shift from an agroindustrial to an agrosocial paradigm and, together with new social and environmental relations in food systems, forms a new rurality in Europe.Una de les preocupacions més antigues del desenvolupament agrari ha estat l'envelliment i la pèrdua de la població agrària, però, per primera vegada des de la Segona Guerra Mundial, hi ha un retorn apreciable de la pagesia a bona part d'Europa. Les noves instal·lacions agràries han estat classificades com a pagesia tradicional i pagesia nouvinguda. La investigació mostra que tenen característiques diferents. La pagesia nouvinguda es caracteritza pels seus perfils (femení i educació superior), les barreres que enfronten (accés a la terra, al capital i al mercat) i els models de negoci que adopten (pluriactius i multifuncionals). Aquest article descriu les principals característiques de la pagesia nouvinguda, ja que forma un grup nou i dinàmic dins de la societat rural europea i contribueix amb fortes motivacions i pràctiques socials a la nova agricultura. Aquest canvi es pot entendre com un canvi d'un model agroindustrial a un nou paradigma agrosocial, que, conjuntament amb els moviments socials i ambientals dels nous sistemes alimentaris, formen una nova ruralitat a Europa.Uno de los lamentos más antiguos del desarrollo agrario ha sido el envejecimiento y la pérdida de la población agrícola, pero, por primera vez desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial, hay un retorno apreciable a la agricultura en la mayor parte de Europa. Las nuevas instalaciones agrícolas han sido clasificadas como agricultores tradicionales y agricultores nuevos. Nuestra investigación muestra que tienen características diferentes. Los agricultores nuevos se caracterizan por sus perfiles (femeninos y educación superior), las barreras que enfrentan (acceso a la tierra, al capital y al mercado) y por los modelos de negocio que adoptan (pluriactivos y multifuncionales). Este artículo describe las principales características de los agricultores nuevos, ya que forman un nuevo y dinámico grupo de la sociedad rural europea y contribuyen con sus fuertes motivaciones y prácticas sociales a una nueva agricultura. Este cambio puede ser referido como un cambio de un modelo agroindustrial a un nuevo paradigma agrosocial, que, junto con los movimientos sociales y ambientales de los nuevos sistemas alimentarios, forman una nueva ruralidad en Europa.Un des plus anciens freins au développement rural est le vieillissement et la perte de la population agricole, mais, pour la première fois depuis la Seconde Guerre mondiale, il existe un retour notable à l'agriculture dans la plupart des pays européens. Ces entrants agricoles ont été classés en continuateurs ou nouveaux venus. La recherche montre qu'ils ont des caractéristiques différentes. Les nouveaux venus sont caractérisés par leur profil (femmes et avec des études supérieures), par les obstacles qu'ils rencontrent (accès à la terre, au capital et au marché) et par modèles d'entreprise qu'ils construisent (pluriactifs et multifonctionnels). Ce document décrit les principales caractéristiques des nouveaux venus, qui forment un nouveau groupe dynamique dans la société rurale européenne et contribuent à l'agriculture via leur forte motivation et leurs pratiques sociales. Ce changement peut être considéré comme le passage d'un paradigme agro-industriel à un paradigme agro-social et, de concert avec les mouvements sociaux et environnementaux dans les systèmes alimentaires, il forme une nouvelle ruralité en Europe

125 - 211 GHz low noise MMIC amplifier design for radio astronomy

To achieve the low noise and wide bandwidth required for millimeter wavelength astronomy applications, superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixer based receiver systems have typically been used. This paper investigates the performance of high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) based low noise amplifiers (LNAs) as an alternative approach for systems operating in the 125 — 211 GHz frequency range. A four-stage, common-source, unconditionally stable monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) design is presented using the state-of-the-art 35 nm indium phosphide HEMT process from Northrop Grumman Corporation. The simulated MMIC achieves noise temperature (T_e) lower than 58 K across the operational bandwidth, with average T_e of 38.8 K (corresponding to less than 5 times the quantum limit (hf/k) at 170 GHz) and forward transmission of 20.5 ± 0.85 dB. Input and output reflection coefficients are better than -6 and -12 dB, respectively, across the desired bandwidth. To the authors knowledge, no LNA currently operates across the entirety of this frequency range. Successful fabrication and implementation of this LNA would challenge the dominance SIS mixers have on sub-THz receivers

Jim Allen : radical drama beyond 'days of hope'

Due to a desire to establish television as a serious medium, television drama has often been seen as a forum for writers, with names such as David Mercer, Dennis Potter and Trevor Griffiths identified by critics as the driving force, or auteur, behind the works that bear their names rather than, as in much writing about film, the director. However, while this has been so, there are also many examples of writers whose contribution to television writing has been much less celebrated, often due to their close collaboration with a high-profile director who in many critics’ view remains the most influential contributor to the final piece of work. One practitioner who arguably has failed to get the critical credit he is due is Jim Allen, a writer still perhaps best known for his work with one such high-profile director, Ken Loach

A picture is worth a thousand words: Smartphone photograph-based surveys for collecting data on office occupant adaptive opportunities

In the past several decades, psychological aspects have been become important to holistic building occupant comfort and satisfaction evaluations. Psychological dimensions of comfort include occupants’ opportunities to interact with their indoor environment and perceived control over the indoor environment. Current post-occupancy evaluations tend to focus on collecting quantitative data, despite overwhelming evidence that contextual factors can profoundly impact occupant comfort. This paper proposes and tests a novel method for data collection to study adaptive comfort opportunities. A smartphone-based survey was developed to concurrently collect office occupants’ subjective evaluations of usability and comfort of spaces, in addition to photographs of all key building interfaces. The photos were coded to obtain quantitative characteristics of offices, such as whether the interface is obstructed. With a sample of 39 office workers, this paper reveals the effectiveness of this novel photographbased survey method, while also providing some initial quantitative and qualitative results

Elisabeth Anthony Dexter Correspondence

Entries include brief biographical information, handwritten biography and letters on personal stationery, and a handwritten letter from Dexter\u27s brother