Management of biomass resources within the crop rotation for eco-functional intensification on stockless organic farms

There is an increased competition for land used in food or energy production (Harvey & Pilgrim, 2011) that necessitates a functional intensification. Can a cropping system be designed to produce high-quality food crops, biogas and fertilizer in the same cropping season, while minimizing both the negative impact on the local aquatic environment and greenhouse gas emissions? The present study investigates this challenge, focusing on crop nitrogen (N) supply and the production of renewable energy on stockless organic farms

Risky business? Welfare state reforms and government support in Britain and Denmark

Are welfare state reforms electorally dangerous for governments? Political scientists have only recently begun to study this seemingly simple question, and existing work still suffers from two shortcomings. First, it has never tested the reform–vote link with data on actual legislative decisions for enough points in time to allow robust statistical tests. Secondly, it has failed to take into account the many expansionary reforms that have occurred in recent decades. Expansions often happen in the same years as cutbacks. By focusing only on cutbacks, estimates of the effects of reforms on government popularity become biased. This article addresses both shortcomings. The results show that voters punish governments for cutbacks, but also reward them for expansions, making so-called compensation, a viable blame-avoidance strategy. The study also finds that the size of punishments and rewards is roughly the same, suggesting that voters’ well-documented negativity bias does not directly translate into electoral behavior

Detecting beer intake by unique metabolite patterns

Evaluation of the health related effects of beer intake is hampered by the lack of accurate tools for assessing intakes (biomarkers). Therefore, we identified plasma and urine metabolites associated with recent beer intake by untargeted metabolomics and established a characteristic metabolite pattern representing raw materials and beer production as a qualitative biomarker of beer intake. In a randomized, crossover, single-blinded meal study (MSt1), 18 participants were given, one at a time, four different test beverages: strong, regular, and nonalcoholic beers and a soft drink. Four participants were assigned to have two additional beers (MSt2). In addition to plasma and urine samples, test beverages, wort, and hops extract were analyzed by UPLC-QTOF. A unique metabolite pattern reflecting beer metabolome, including metabolites derived from beer raw material (i.e., <i>N</i>-methyl tyramine sulfate and the sum of iso-α-acids and tricyclohumols) and the production process (i.e., pyro-glutamyl proline and 2-ethyl malate), was selected to establish a compliance biomarker model for detection of beer intake based on MSt1. The model predicted the MSt2 samples collected before and up to 12 h after beer intake correctly (AUC = 1). A biomarker model including four metabolites representing both beer raw materials and production steps provided a specific and accurate tool for measurement of beer consumption