The Place of Fish Production in a Program of Multiple Water Use

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142268/1/tafs0297.pd

Succeeding from Nature: The Non-Human Agency of Portuguese Cork

Non-human life has economic agency. It acts on the cultural values of products. Naturalness is an important property in the market and imbues vibrant materials with organic, healthy, traditional and other contingent properties. However, “natural” products can be succeeded in form and function by “synthetic” alternatives. Their value is further affected by non-humans. Our signal case explores Portuguese cork-bark, an agroforestry product grown in the montado, a biodiverse managed mosaic landscape of forestry and farming. The natural value of cork bottle stoppers is based on their effect on wine flavour. Oxygen permeable cork enables beneficial ageing to enhance flavour, whereas cork contaminated with taint degrades wine. Synthetic stoppers recreate the form and function of corks without being a vector for contamination. A succession from natural cork stoppers to reliable artificial polyethylene corks led to a decline in demand for cork bark and negative impacts on montado biodiversity. Yet here we demonstrate that such successions can be reversed as the affective properties of cork bark products became revalued with improvements in manufacturing, increasing concern for environmental sustainability and rising consumer demand for natural products. This leads us to explore further the dynamics between natural goods and synthetic replacements. We argue that rather than being two discrete domains of reality, natural and artificial products are both co-produced through assemblages of human and non-human action. Understanding succession between “natural” and “artificial” products enables new insights in to the geographies of non-human agency

Study protocol: use of a smartphone application to support the implementation of a complex physical activity intervention (+Stay Active) in women with gestational diabetes mellitus-protocol for a non-randomised feasibility study

This is the final version. Available on open access from BMJ Publishing Group via the DOI in this recordINTRODUCTION: Physical activity (PA) interventions have a promising role in the management of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Digital technologies can support PA at scale and remotely. The protocol describes a study designed to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a complex intervention; known as +Stay Active. +Stay Active combines motivational interviewing with a bespoke behaviour change informed smartphone application (Stay-Active) to augment PA levels in women with GDM. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is a non-randomised feasibility study using a mixed methods approach. Participants will be recruited from the GDM antenatal clinic at the Women Centre, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. Following baseline assessments (visit 1) including self-reported and device determined PA assessment (wearing a wrist accelerometer), women will be invited to participate in an online motivational interview, then download and use the Stay-Active app (Android or iOS) (visit 2). Women will have access to Stay-Active until 36 weeks gestation, when engagement and PA levels will be reassessed (visit 3). The target sample size is 60 women. Primary outcomes are recruitment and retention rates, compliance and assessment of participant engagement and acceptability with the intervention. Secondary outcomes are assessment of blood glucose control, self-reported and device determined assessment of PA, usage and structured feedback of participant's attitudes to +Stay Active, assessment of health costs and description of maternal and neonatal outcomes. This study will provide key insights into this complex intervention regarding engagement in smartphone technology and the wearing of accelerometers. These data will inform the development of a randomised controlled trial with refinements to intervention implementation. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study has received a favourable opinion from South Central-Hampshire B Research Ethics Committee; REC reference: 20/SC/0342. Written informed consent will be obtained from all participants. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals, conferences and seminar presentations. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN11366562.Oxford University Hospitals NHS FoundationNational Institute for Health Research (NIHR