Energy Assessment of Pastoral Dairy Goat Husbandry from an Agroecological Economics Perspective. A Case Study in Andalusia (Spain)

This paper presents a methodological proposal of new energy sustainability indicators according to a novel accounting that follows agroecological and ecological economics criteria. Energy output is reformulated to include manure and thus consider the contribution to fertilization made by pastoral livestock farming to agroecosystems. Energy inputs calculations include the grazing resources. These new definitions and calculations allow for new formulations of the energy return on investment (EROI) as measures of the energy efficiency of livestock farming systems (final EROI and food/feed EROI). The environmental benefit of manure is estimated from the avoided energy cost of using this alternative to inorganic fertilizers (AECM). The environmental benefit of grazing is measured through the energy cost of avoiding cultivated animal feed (AECP) and its impact in terms of non-utilized agricultural area (ALCP). The comparative analysis of different livestock breeding systems in three pastoral dairy goat farms in the Sierra de Cádiz in Andalusia, southern Spain, reveals the analytical potential of the new energy sustainability indicators proposed, as well as the potential environmental benefits derived from territorial-based stockbreeding and, more specifically, grazing activities. Those benefits include gains in energy efficiency, a reduction of the dependence on non-renewable energy, and environmental costs avoided in terms of energy in extensive pastoral systems

A Pre-Katrina Look At the Health Care Delivery System for Low-Income People in New Orleans

Provides an overview of the public safety net structure, and how health care was delivered to the low-income and uninsured residents of New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina. Discusses the challenges facing the city as it rebuilds

Symbiont diversity is not involved in depth acclimation in the Mediterranean sea whip Eunicella singularis

In symbiotic cnidarians, acclimation to depth and lower irradiance can involve physiological changes in the photosynthetic dinoflagellate endosymbiont, such as increased chlorophyll content, or qualitative modifications in the symbiont population in favour of better adapted strains. It has been argued that a lack of capacity to acquire new symbionts could limit the bathymetric distribution of the host species, or compromise its long-term survival in a changing environment. But is that always true? To address this question, we investigated the symbiont genetic diversity in Eunicella singularis, a Mediterranean sea whip species with a wide bathymetric distribution (10 to 50 m depth), which has recently suffered from mass mortalities after periods of abnormally high sea temperatures. We measured symbiont population densities and chlorophyll content in natural populations, and followed the response of the holobionts after reciprocal transplantations to deep and shallow depths. A total of 161 colonies were sampled at 2 depths (10 and 30 m) at 5 sites in the northwestern Mediterranean. All colonies harboured a single ribosomal Symbiodinium clade (A'), but a relatively high within-clade genetic diversity was found among and within colonies. This diversity was not structured by depth, even though the deeper colonies contained significantly lower population densities of symbionts and less chlorophyll. We did, however, reveal host-symbiont specificity among E. singularis and other Mediterranean cnidarian species. Transplantation experiments revealed a limit of plasticity for symbiont population density and chlorophyll content, which in turn questions the importance of the trophic role of Symbiodinium in E. singularis

Limited asymptomatic carriage of Pneumocystis jiroveci in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients

Forty-seven bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples from 16 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients were used to test the latency model of Pneumocystis infection in the human host. Identification of DNA sequence polymorphisms at 4 independent loci were used to genotype Pneumocystis jiroveci from the 35 samples that contained detectable P. jiroveci DNA. Eighteen of those 35 samples came from patients who did not have Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) and had confirmed alternative diagnoses. Seven patients had asymptomatic carriage of P. jiroveci over periods of less than or equal to9.5 months after an episode of PCP, and in all 7 cases, a change in genotype from that in the original episode of PCP was observed. The absence of P. jiroveci DNA in one-fourth of the 47 samples and the observed changes in genotype during asymptomatic carriage do not support the latency model of infection. Asymptomatic carriage in HIV-infected patients may play a role in transmission of P. jiroveci and may even supply a reservoir for future infections

Can organic farming help to reduce N-losses? Experiences from Denmark

This study is in two parts. In the first part, nitrogen N)losses per unit of milk and meat in Danish conventional and organic pig and dairy farming were compared on the basis of farm data. In the second part, organic and conventional dairy farming were compared in detail, using modelling. N-surpluses at different livestock densities, fodder intensities, and soil types were simulated. Finally, simulated N-surpluses were used in national scenarios for conversion to organic dairy farming in Denmark. In Part one, pig farming was found to have a higher N-efficiency than dairy farming. Organic pig production had a lower N-efficiency and a higher N-surplus per kg meat than conventional pig production. The possibilities to reduce N-loss by conversion to organic pig production therefore appear to be poor. Organic dairy farming had a higher N-efficiency and a lower N-surplus per kg milk than conventional dairy farming. Conversion from conventional to organic dairy farming may therefore reduce N-losses. In Part two, a positive correlation between livestock density and N-surplus ha−1 was found for dairy farming. For all simulated livestock densities, fodder feeding intensities and soil types, organic systems showed a lower N-surplus per unit of milk produced than conventional systems. National scenarios for dairy farming showed that the present Danish milk production could be achieved with a 24% lower total N-surplus if converted from intensive conventional farming to extensive organic farming. At the same time, N-surplus ha−1 and N-surplus (tmilk) −1 would be lowered by 50% and 25%respectively. Changing from intensive to extensive conventional dairy farming with a livestock density equal to that in the organic scenario resulted in a reduction in N-surplus ha−1 of 15%. It was concluded that a reduction in total N-loss from agriculture is possible by converting from conventional to organic dairy farming but at the cost of either lower production on the present dairy farm area, or the current production on a substantially larger area

Graphene, Lattice QFT and Symmetries

Borrowing ideas from tight binding model, we propose a board class of Lattice QFT models that are classified by the ADE Lie algebras. In the case of su(N) series, we show that the couplings between the quantum states living at the first nearest neighbor sites of the lattice $\mathcal{L}_{su(N)}$ are governed by the complex fundamental representations \underline{${{\mathbf{N}}}$} and $\bar{{\mathbf{N}}}$ of $su(N)$; and the second nearest neighbor interactions are described by its adjoint $\underline{\mathbf{N}} \otimes \bar{\mathbf{N}}$. The lattice models associated with the leading su(2), su(3) and su(4) cases are explicitly studied and their fermionic field realizations are given. It is also shown that the su(2) and su(3) models describe respectively the electronic properties of the acetylene chain and the graphene. It is established as well that the energy dispersion of the first nearest neighbor couplings is completely determined by the $A_{N}$ roots $\mathbf{\alpha}$ through the typical dependence $N/2+\sum_{roots}\cos(\mathbf{k}.\alpha)$ with $\mathbf{k}$ the wave vector. Other features such as DE extension and other applications are also discussed. Keywords: Tight Binding Model, Graphene, Lattice QFT, ADE Symmetries.Comment: LaTex, 20 pages, 5 figure