Asthma and allergies: is the farming environment (still) protective in Poland? The GABRIEL Advanced Studies

BACKGROUND Evidence exists that a farming environment in childhood may provide protection against atopic respiratory disease. In the GABRIEL project based in Poland and Alpine regions of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, we aimed to assess whether a farming environment in childhood is protective against allergic diseases in Poland and whether specific exposures explain any protective effect. METHODS In rural Poland, 23 331 families of schoolchildren completed a questionnaire enquiring into farming practices and allergic diseases (Phase I). A subsample (n = 2586) participated in Phase II involving a more detailed questionnaire on specific farm exposures with objective measures of atopy. RESULTS Farming differed between Poland and the Alpine centres; in the latter, cattle farming was prevalent, whereas in Poland 18% of village farms kept ≥1 cow and 34% kept ≥1 pig. Polish children in villages had lower prevalences of asthma and hay fever than children from towns, and in the Phase II population, farm children had a reduced risk of atopy measured by IgE (aOR = 0.72, 95% CI 0.57, 0.91) and skin prick test (aOR = 0.65, 95% CI 0.50, 0.86). Early-life contact with grain was inversely related to the risk of atopy measured by IgE (aOR = 0.66, 95% CI 0.47, 0.92) and appeared to explain part of the farming effect. CONCLUSION While farming in Poland differed from that in the Alpine areas as did the exposure-response associations, we found in communities engaged in small-scale, mixed farming, there was a protective farming effect against objective measures of atopy potentially related to contact with grain or associated farm activities.

Farm resilience in organic and nonorganic cocoa farming systems in Alto Beni, Bolivia

Cocoa production in Alto Beni, Bolivia, is a major source of income and is severely affected by climate change impacts and other stress factors. Resilient farming systems are, thus, important for local families. This study compares indicators for social–ecological resilience in 30 organic and 22 nonorganic cocoa farms of Alto Beni. Organic farms had a higher tree and crop diversity, higher yields and incomes, more social connectedness, and participated in more courses on cocoa cultivation. Resilience was enhanced by local farmers’ organizations, providing organic certification and supporting diversified agroforestry with seedlings and extension, going beyond basic organic certification requirements.

Towards self-authorship in child care students : implications for working with children and their families

Using self authorship as a theoretical framework, this chapter examines the relationship between personal epistemology and beliefs about children’s learning for students studying to be child care workers in Australia. Scenario-based interviews were used to investigate how students’ views of knowledge, identity and relationships with others were related to beliefs about how children learn. Implications for vocational education are discussed.

Burden of care and general health in families of patients with schizophrenia

Background: De-institutionalization of psychiatric patients has led to a greater emphasis on family management in the community, and family members are often overwhelmed by the demands that caring for a patient with schizophrenia involves. Most studies of family burden in schizophrenia have taken place in developed countries. The current study examined family burden and its correlates in a regional area of a medium income country in South America. Method: Sixty-five relatives of patients with schizophrenia who were attending a public mental health out-patient service in the province of Arica, Chile, were assessed on Spanish versions of the Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale and SF-36 Health Survey (SF-36). Results: Average levels of burden were very high, particularly for mothers, carers with less education, carers of younger patients and carers of patients with more hospitalisations in the previous 3 years. Kinship and number of recent hospitalisations retained unique predictive variance in a multiple regression. Burden was the strongest predictor of SF-36 subscales, and the prediction from burden remained significant after entry of other potential predictors. Conclusions: In common with families in developed countries, family members of schizophrenia patients in regional Chile reported high levels of burden and related functional and health impact. The study highlighted the support needs of carers in contexts with high rates of poverty and limited health and community resources.

The family attitude scale : reliability and validity of a new scale for measuring the emotional climate of families

Research on outcomes from psychiatric disorders has highlighted the importance of expressed emotion (EE), but its cost-effective measurement remains a challenge. This article describes development of the Family Attitude Scale (FAS), a 30-item instrument that can be completed by any informant. Its psychometric characteristics are reported in parents of undergraduate students and in 70 families with a schizophrenic member. The total FAS had high internal consistency in all samples, and reports of angry behaviour in FAS items showed acceptable inter-rater agreement. The FAS was associated with the reported anger, anger expression and anxiety of respondents. Substantial associations between the parents' FAS and the anger and anger expression of students was also observed. Parents of schizophrenic patients had higher FAS scores than parents of students, and the FAS was higher if disorder duration was longer or patient functioning was poorer. Hostility, high criticism and low warmth on the Camberwell Family Interview (CFI) were associated with a more negative FAS. The highest FAS in the family was a good predictor of a highly critical environment on the CFI. The FAS is a reliable and valid indicator of relationship stress and expressed anger that has wide applicability.

Integrity determination of RTK solutions in precision farming applications

Integrity of Real Time Kinematic (RTK) positioning solutions relates to the confidential level that can be placed in the information provided by the RTK system. It includes the ability of the RTK system to provide timely valid warnings to users when the system must not be used for the intended operation. For instance, in the controlled traffic farming (CTF) system that controls traffic separates wheel beds and root beds, RTK positioning error causes overlap and increases the amount of soil compaction. The RTK system’s integrity capacity can inform users when the actual positional errors of the RTK solutions have exceeded Horizontal Protection Levels (HPL) within a certain Time-To-Alert (TTA) at a given Integrity Risk (IR). The later is defined as the probability that the system claims its normal operational status while actually being in an abnormal status, e.g., the ambiguities being incorrectly fixed and positional errors having exceeded the HPL. The paper studies the required positioning performance (RPP) of GPS positioning system for PA applications such as a CTF system, according to literature review and survey conducted among a number of farming companies. The HPL and IR are derived from these RPP parameters. A RTK-specific rover autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM) algorithm is developed to determine the system integrity according to real time outputs, such as residual square sum (RSS), HDOP values. A two-station baseline data set is analyzed to demonstrate the concept of RTK integrity and assess the RTK solution continuity, missed detection probability and false alarm probability.

Just Relations : Indigenous families in Australian lifestyle media

This paper argues that the increasing visibility of Indigenous families in the mainstream Australian media over the past ten years has produced new opportunities for addressing national injustices of the Stolen Generations. It shows how, as certain celebrities like Ernie Dingo, Nova Peris and Cathy Freeman, have become popular household names, a concurrent public interest in their family backgrounds has grown. Descriptive accounts of relationships and shared histories – propelled by the expansion of the lifestyle television genre in this context – has enabled some stories of the ‘Stolen Generations’ to be seen as ‘ordinary’, and part of a broader sense of everyday Australian life for the first time. With the aid of recent sexual citizenship research, the article illustrates that such middle-class representations give voice to new embodiments of citizenship in the post-apology era, making Indigenous justice more subjectively interconnected with life in the white Australian public sphere.

SCOOT game event : families as partners in learning

How games can be designed to engage families in learning spaces outside of the classroom. SCOOT Game has been played by families in various science museums and art galleries in Australian capital cities since 2004. Families form groups to collaborate in the game that takes them on an SMS quest through these places engaging them with artworks, historic facts, landmarks, puzzles, street performances etc.

Farm it right : the sustainable farming simulation

Farm It Right is an innovative creative work that simulates sustainable farming techniques using ecological models prepared by academics at Bradford University (School of Life Sciences). This interactive work simulates the farming conditions and options of our ancestors and demonstrates the direct impact their actions had on their environment and on the ’future of their cultures’ (Schmidt 2008). Specifically, the simulation allows users to explore and experiment with the complex relationships between environmental factors and human decision making within the harsh conditions of an early (9th century) Nordic farm. The simulation interface displays both statistical and graphical feedback in response to the users selections regarding animal reproduction rates, shelter provisions, food supplies etc. as well as demonstrating resulting impacts to soil erosion, water supply, animal population sizes etc.---------- 'Farm It Right' is now used at Bradford University (School of Life Sciences) as a dynamic e-Learning resource for incorporating environmental archaeology with sustainable development education, improving the engagement with complex data and the appreciation of human impacts on the environment and the future of their cultures. 'Farm It Right' is also demonstrated as an exemplar case study for interaction design students at Queensland University of Technology.