| 1. |
- Ahlman, Therese, et al.
(författare)
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Organic producers' preferences regarding traits important in dairy production
- 2012
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Ingår i: Landbauforschung Völkenrode. Sonderheft. - 0376-0723. ; 362, s. 343-346
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Much effort has been put on the development and promotion of organic dairy products, but little attention has been paid to the foundation of the production, i.e. the animal material. The process of developing sustainable breeding strategies, in agreement with the goals for organic production, should involve identification of traits especially important in organic production. The aim of this study is to identify organic and conventional producers' preferences regarding traits important in dairy production. A web based questionnaire has been developed and answered by 468 dairy farm-ers in Sweden (26 % organic producers). The results show that organic producers rank traits relat-ed to resistance to diseases higher than conventional producers, while milk production, lactation curve, temperament and claw and leg health were ranked higher by conventional farmers. This in-dicates a need for breeding goals adjusted to satisfy farmers with different type of production.
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| 2. |
- Algers, Anne, et al.
(författare)
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Peer review of OER is not comprehensive- power and passion call for other solutions
- 2014
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this article is to support the discussion on the role of OER for sustainable development by (i) highlighting the need for a critical debate on issues related to quality of OER and (ii) emphasizing that both accuracy and legitimacy is essential for quality. Higher education has a societal responsibility to formally educate students and to be involved in informal learning of members of society. OER are used as a hybrid of learning artefacts and methodology in this process, but quality assurance systems may influence trust and therefore the scale of OER adoption. Quality of research and traditional resources used in higher education are assessed by the use of peer review, but this process has been criticised for neither being standardised and objective, nor reliable for detecting fraud. Furthermore it is questioned because it is time consuming and expensive, and has been accused for stealing ideas, and for blocking and slowing down the publication of scientific results of competitors. Peer review is sometimes used in the quality assurance of OER, but has been criticised since OER are constantly changing and centralised control systems are lacking. Furthermore, OER can with reference to the wisdom of the crowd be argued to be of higher quality than resources developed by single individuals, since it is a collegial activity similar to the creative exchange in research when researchers are building upon each other’s work and discuss their findings with fellow researchers in order to get a shared understanding. Different types of index are sometimes used in peer review based on tools which measure different dimensions. Such tools tend to be instrumental and some academics are considering other and more inclusive approaches such as ratings and recommendation. The balance between accuracy and legitimacy in OER practices deserves further research, especially when dealing with contested subject areas. Thus, the question is not only if the OER is accurate, in the sense without errors or demonstrating scientific reliable results, but if it shares with you the value-laden presuppositions about what is important. Food quality and animal welfare are aspects of sustainability which are of high interest not only to scientists and students but also to citizens and consumers. Individuals need to be assisted to become more aware of the complexities surrounding ethical decision making and more conscious of their own ethical Research Approaches and Perceptions in ODL 89 orientation in the contested areas of food quality and animal welfare, in order to make informed consumer choices, influence the food production methods and levels of animal welfare and articulate their stance in sustainable development. Consequently, food quality and animal welfare have legitimacy because of ethical concerns in the society. To access the adequacy of those scientific conceptions the research community must therefore be in dialogue with society and address the current ethical concerns. This article presents empirical research highlighting the interplay between accuracy, meaning if the content is current knowledge without errors, and legitimacy, meaning if the content is relevant to the learner and based on the value system of the learner or the general accepted value system in a certain context. It highlights the power structures and question if higher education has the authority to be the main assessor of OER in the future, and if peer review is the only and preferred methodology for quality assessment. It asks the question if the wisdom of the crowd and its demand for knowledge is building the legitimacy of OER and how that corresponds to the quality assessment of OER, and therefore how this might contribute to a sustainable development of society. The fourth generation activity theory is about expansive learning, and builds on the idea that there are inner contradictions within the learners’ activity system and that knowledge creation transcends the context given, and is therefore found to be a useful framework for analysing the peer review process. Since openness is both the objectives and the instruments in OER a peer review assessment of the artefact cannot be comprehensive but requires a complex mix of quality instruments enabling users to be involved in the quality process. As previously suggested the interaction between (i) the network of users of OER and (ii) the network in publishing industry and formal education may form the future solution for the quality of OER and for sustainable development.
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| 3. |
- Algers, Anne, 1961, et al.
(författare)
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Peer Reviewing of OER in a Contested Domain – an Activity Theoretical Analysis
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of Interactive Online Learning. - 1541-4914. ; 13:4, s. 21-38
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Globally, we experience numerous initiatives to increase the adoption of open educational resources (OER), but quality concerns challenge the adoption. In this study we present an analysis of the peer review process of an OER. The OER under review is produced by the European Commission (EU). It has the goal to teach children about farm animal welfare. Following discussions with the EU about its quality, a panel review was conducted. The group of peers used a quality evaluation tool for initial individual assessment, which was then discussed in four consecutive meetings. Video recordings from the meetings and the final report constitute the research data. Cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) was used as the analytical framework. The results indicated that the main areas of negotiations were the content quality of the OER and the adoption of the OER in teaching practices. The examination of these concerns using CHAT indicated that the peer review process neither leads to accuracy nor legitimacy. In summary, OER and in particular the quality assessment of OER challenge the boundaries of higher education. A combination of peer review and crowd source review is suggested to underpin the openness and thus increase adoption of OER.
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| 4. |
- Bernacka Wojcik, Iwona, et al.
(författare)
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Implantable Organic Electronic Ion Pump Enables ABA Hormone Delivery for Control of Stomata in an Intact Tobacco Plant
- 2019
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Ingår i: Small. - : Wiley-VCH Verlagsgesellschaft. - 1613-6810 .- 1613-6829. ; 15:43
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Electronic control of biological processes with bioelectronic devices holds promise for sophisticated regulation of physiology, for gaining fundamental understanding of biological systems, providing new therapeutic solutions, and digitally mediating adaptations of organisms to external factors. The organic electronic ion pump (OEIP) provides a unique means for electronically-controlled, flow-free delivery of ions, and biomolecules at cellular scale. Here, a miniaturized OEIP device based on glass capillary fibers (c-OEIP) is implanted in a biological organism. The capillary form factor at the sub-100 mu m scale of the device enables it to be implanted in soft tissue, while its hyperbranched polyelectrolyte channel and addressing protocol allows efficient delivery of a large aromatic molecule. In the first example of an implantable bioelectronic device in plants, the c-OEIP readily penetrates the leaf of an intact tobacco plant with no significant wound response (evaluated up to 24 h) and effectively delivers the hormone abscisic acid (ABA) into the leaf apoplast. OEIP-mediated delivery of ABA, the phytohormone that regulates plants tolerance to stress, induces closure of stomata, the microscopic pores in leafs epidermis that play a vital role in photosynthesis and transpiration. Efficient and localized ABA delivery reveals previously unreported kinetics of ABA-induced signal propagation.
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| 5. |
- Eklund, D. Magnus, et al.
(författare)
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Homologues of the Arabidopsis thaliana SHI/STY/LRP1 genes control auxin biosynthesis and affect growth and development in the moss Physcomitrella patens
- 2010
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Ingår i: Development. - : The Company of Biologists. - 0950-1991 .- 1477-9129. ; 137:8, s. 1275-1284
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The plant hormone auxin plays fundamental roles in vascular plants. Although exogenous auxin also stimulates developmental transitions and growth in non-vascular plants, the effects of manipulating endogenous auxin levels have thus far not been reported. Here, we have altered the levels and sites of auxin production and accumulation in the moss Physcomitrella patens by changing the expression level of homologues of the Arabidopsis SHI/STY family proteins, which are positive regulators of auxin biosynthesis genes. Constitutive expression of PpSHI1 resulted in elevated auxin levels, increased and ectopic expression of the auxin response reporter GmGH3pro:GUS, and in an increased caulonema/chloronema ratio, an effect also induced by exogenous auxin application. In addition, we observed premature ageing and necrosis in cells ectopically expressing PpSHI1. Knockout of either of the two PpSHI genes resulted in reduced auxin levels and auxin biosynthesis rates in leafy shoots, reduced internode elongation, delayed ageing, a decreased caulonema/chloronema ratio and an increased number of axillary hairs, which constitute potential auxin biosynthesis sites. Some of the identified auxin functions appear to be analogous in vascular and non-vascular plants. Furthermore, the spatiotemporal expression of the PpSHI genes and GmGH3pro:GUS strongly overlap, suggesting that local auxin biosynthesis is important for the regulation of auxin peak formation in non-vascular plants.
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| 6. |
- Elfving, Kristina, et al.
(författare)
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Acute Uncomplicated Febrile Illness in Children Aged 2-59 months in Zanzibar : Aetiologies, Antibiotic Treatment and Outcome
- 2016
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 11:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Despite the fact that a large proportion of children with fever in Africa present at primary health care facilities, few studies have been designed to specifically study the causes of uncomplicated childhood febrile illness at this level of care, especially in areas like Zanzibar that has recently undergone a dramatic change from high to low malaria transmission.METHODS: We prospectively studied the aetiology of febrile illness in 677 children aged 2-59 months with acute uncomplicated fever managed by IMCI (Integrated Management of Childhood Illness) guidelines in Zanzibar, using point-of-care tests, urine culture, blood-PCR, chest X-ray (CXR) of IMCI-pneumonia classified patients, and multiple quantitative (q)PCR investigations of nasopharyngeal (NPH) (all patients) and rectal (GE) swabs (diarrhoea patients). For comparison, we also performed NPH and GE qPCR analyses in 167 healthy community controls. Final fever diagnoses were retrospectively established based on all clinical and laboratory data. Clinical outcome was assessed during a 14-day follow-up. The utility of IMCI for identifying infections presumed to require antibiotics was evaluated.FINDINGS: NPH-qPCR and GE-qPCR detected ≥1 pathogen in 657/672 (98%) and 153/164 (93%) of patients and 158/166 (95%) and 144/165 (87%) of controls, respectively. Overall, 57% (387/677) had IMCI-pneumonia, but only 12% (42/342) had CXR-confirmed pneumonia. Two patients were positive for Plasmodium falciparum. Respiratory syncytial virus (24.5%), influenza A/B (22.3%), rhinovirus (10.5%) and group-A streptococci (6.4%), CXR-confirmed pneumonia (6.2%), Shigella (4.3%) were the most common viral and bacterial fever diagnoses, respectively. Blood-PCR conducted in a sub-group of patients (n = 83) without defined fever diagnosis was negative for rickettsiae, chikungunya, dengue, Rift Valley fever and West Nile viruses. Antibiotics were prescribed to 500 (74%) patients, but only 152 (22%) had an infection retrospectively considered to require antibiotics. Clinical outcome was generally good. However, two children died. Only 68 (11%) patients remained febrile on day 3 and three of them had verified fever on day 14. An additional 29 (4.5%) children had fever relapse on day 14. Regression analysis determined C-reactive Protein (CRP) as the only independent variable significantly associated with CXR-confirmed pneumonia.CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study on uncomplicated febrile illness in African children that both applied a comprehensive laboratory panel and a healthy control group. A majority of patients had viral respiratory tract infection. Pathogens were frequently detected by qPCR also in asymptomatic children, demonstrating the importance of incorporating controls in fever aetiology studies. The precision of IMCI for identifying infections requiring antibiotics was low.
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| 7. |
- Gerber, M., et al.
(författare)
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Fitness Moderates the Relationship between Stress and Cardiovascular Risk Factors
- 2016
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Ingår i: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. - : Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). - 0195-9131. ; 48:11, s. 2075-2081
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose This cross-sectional observational study examined the degree to which cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and self-perceived stress are associated with cardiometabolic risk factors and the overall risk score for cardiovascular diseases. The second aim was to determine whether participants' CRF levels moderate the relationships between stress and cardiometabolic risk. Methods A gender-matched stratified sample (N = 197, 51% men, M-age = 39.2 yr) was used to ensure that participants with varying stress levels were equally represented. CRF was assessed with the angstrom strand bicycle test, and perceived stress was assessed with a single-item question. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TG), glycated hemoglobin, and total cardiometabolic risk score (sum of the z-standardized residuals of the previously mentioned indicators) were assessed as outcomes. Results Higher LDL-C, TG, and total metabolic risk were found in participants with high stress scores (P < 0.05). In addition, lower SBP, DBP, BMI, LDL-C, TG, and total metabolic risk were observed in participants with high CRF (P < 0.05). Two-way ANCOVA provided significant interaction effects for five of the nine outcome variables (P < 0.05, 3.6%-4.8% of explained variance). Participants with high stress who also had high CRF levels had lower SBP, DBP, LDL-C, TG, and total cardiometabolic risk than participants with high stress but low or moderate CRF levels. No significant main or interaction effects occurred for BMI, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and glycated hemoglobin. Conclusion Better CRF is associated with more favorable levels of several cardiometabolic risk factors, specifically in participants experiencing high stress. Higher CRF may provide some protection against the health hazards of high chronic stress by attenuating the stress-related increase in cardiovascular risk factors.
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| 8. |
- Lindblom, Jessica, et al.
(författare)
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Decision Making in Agriculture : Farmers' Lifeworld in Theory and Practice
- 2013
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The challenges facing the agriculture sector are immense and a wide range of factors and demands influence it on both local and global level. Making decisions under such circumstances is a complex and delicate task in which goal conflicts cannot easily be resolved. This puts farmers in a rather difficult position as it is impossible for a single individual to make informed and appropriate decisions, which strongly emphasizes the need for an increased collaboration between farmers and other actors in the agricultural sector. This paper aims to explore in more detail farmers' lifeworld which refers to their social environment and working life. Particular focus will be on the socially situated organization of collaborative activities in farmers' lifeworld and the ways in which technologies and artifacts can be present in practical action. For instance, agricultural advisory situations can be considered complex social systems where people with different backgrounds, experiences, and expectations collaborate by means of a wide range of artifacts to develop some common understanding and shared knowledge. We suggest that theories of distributed and situated cognition and the methodologies that come with them are well suited to capture farmers' lifeworld and their daily working practices. Material from an ongoing workplace study will be used for illustration purposes to provide concrete examples.
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| 9. |
- Lindblom, Jessica, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
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Next Generation Decision Support Systems for Farmers : Sustainable Agriculture through Sustainable IT
- 2016
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Ingår i: Farming Systems Facing Global Challenges: Capacities and Strategies.. - Berlin : IFSA Europe. - 9783981395754 ; , s. 49-57
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The core of many changes towards a more sustainable agriculture is the individual decision-maker. The decisions of each farmer have impacts on sustainability and are made in a complex world of contradictious interests and values. Agricultural decision support systems (AgriDSS) will be a major contributor in the realization of a viable farm economy with less negative environmental impact, but it must not only provide current and relevant information. Current DSSs available to farmers, advisors, experts, and policy makers are not used to their full potential. One reason is that they fail to capture the actual needs of the farmers and to understand their decision-making in practice. They are not adapted to the high complexity characterizing sustainable land use decision-making. Among farmers the acceptance of these systems are low, partly because existing DSS are based on what scientists and system developers consider as necessary. As a result, new linkages and better understanding between different stakeholders in agriculture has to be improved. The user-centred design (UCD) approach can answer the core of the identified problems of most DSSs, because it put the farmers’ experience in focus and involve them early and continuously in the design process. In this paper we discuss next generation’s AgriDSS which are useful and useable for farmers and other stakeholders. By introducing theories from UCD, illustrated by the Swedish case of implementing Precision Agriculture, we show what is needed to make new technologies contribute to resilient farms and farming systems. We argue that there is a dual link between environmental sustainability and information systems (IS) addressing both sustainability through design – how IS can be used to promote more sustainable behaviours, and sustainability in design – how sustainability can be the governing principle of the design of the information systems themselves.Consequently, the next generation’s AgriDSS must simultaneously enable stakeholders to get access to the best knowledge available, and at the same time involve them in the process of developing the user interface design. To use existing and future information efficiently, participatory approaches are therefore crucial and need to be a part of transition towards sustainable agriculture.
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| 10. |
- Lindblom, Jessica, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
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Promoting sustainable intensification in precision agriculture : review of decision support systems development and strategies
- 2017
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Ingår i: Precision Agriculture. - : Springer. - 1385-2256 .- 1573-1618. ; 18:3, s. 309-331
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Precision agriculture provides important issues toward a more sustainable agriculture. Many farmers have the necessary technology to operate site-specifically, but they do not use it in practice, and thus available information and communications technology(ICT) systems are not used to their full potential. This paper addresses how to reduce the so-called ‘‘problem of implementation’’, based on the knowledge that participatory approaches during the design and development process is one of the most important factors to frame technology adoption. The development of sustainable ICT systems through theories and methodologies from the fields of human computer interaction and user-centered design (UCD) is presented and an ongoing Swedish project for development of an agricultural decision support system (AgriDSS) for nitrogen fertilization is used as an example to frame the issue. The overreaching aim is to develop AgriDSSs that are sustainable in design as well as through design by stressing the importance of participatory approaches for the successful development of AgriDSSs. The Swedish project has the intention to apply a UCD approach, and some pitfalls on starting to use this way of working is identified as well as some suggestions on how to reduce them through co-learning processes. Despite the challenges presented in this paper, ICT can contribute significantly to long-term sustainable development. Thus, several competences and scientific disciplines need to act in concert to help develop a sustainable development of agriculture via a transdisciplinary approach that can make an impact on society at many levels.
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