263 research outputs found
Towards more ecoefficient food production: MFA approach
The key for the sustainable development is dematerialisation and ecoefficiency. Applied to
agriculture ecoefficiency means production of nutritionally better food by using less inputs
and by reducing the environmental burden. In restricting the material throughput it is essential
to identify the most voluminous material flows and to direct the measures to them. Improving
ecoefficiency of the food production requires that the benefits and the inputs are quantified in
an unambiguous way and that the inputs are estimated for the whole production chain. A
comprehensive view of the whole system is necessary.
The food system comprises four mutually linked loops: 1) the plant production 2) the
livestock husbandry, 3) the food processing industry and 4) the human consumption. In the
present paper MFA approach has been used to describe the system. A general framework for
estimating and balancing the materials flow is outlined. The focus is on agriculture,
specifically on the materials flow created by the biological metabolism of the animal
husbandry.
The holistic MFA approach provides means to evaluate environmental and economic
consequences of the production. For the decision-makers the MFA approach is a tool to guide
the development and to assess the progress towards increasing ecoefficiency within the food
system. The results can be used in developing new sustainability indicators. Some of the
possibilities are shortly discussed.
The study is the first step in developing MFA methods to analyse and to monitor the materials
flow of the Finnish food systems. It is a part of the project âThe Materials Flow and
Ecoefficiency of Agriculture and the Sustainable Compatibility of the Food Productionâ
carried out in collaboration between the MTT - Agrifood Research Finland and the Thule
Institute at the University of Oulu. The results are used also in compiling the Finnish physical
input-output tables. The study, thus, contributes to the overall development of the materials
flow accounting statistics
Towards more ecoefficient food production: MFA approach
The food flux comprises four mutually linked loops: 1)plant production, 2)livestock husbandry, 3) food processing industry and 4) human consumption. In the present paper MFA approach has been used to describe the system. A general framework and practical solutions for estimating and balancing the materials flow are outlined. The focus in this paper is agriculture
The gap between behavioral risk status and willingness to change behavior among healthcare professionals
Aims: This study explored behavioral health risk factors among healthcare professionals and investigated the at-risk persons' satisfaction with their health habits and ongoing change attempts. Methods: The study was based on a cross-sectional web-based survey directed at the nurses and physicians (N = 1233) in Finnish healthcare. Obesity, low physical activity, smoking, and risky alcohol drinking were used as behavioral health risk factors. Results: In all, 70% of the participants had at least one behavioral risk factor, and a significant number of at-risk persons were satisfied with their health habits and had no ongoing change process. Good self-rated health and good self-rated work ability were significantly associated with whether a participant had a behavioral health risk factor. Conclusion: Overall, unhealthy behaviors and a lack of ongoing change attempts were commonly observed among healthcare professionals. Work in healthcare is demanding, and healthy lifestyles can support coping. Thus, healthy lifestyle programs should also be targeted to healthcare professionals.Peer reviewe
Factors associated with parental recognition of a child's overweight status - a cross sectional study
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Very few studies have evaluated the association between a child's lifestyle factors and their parent's ability to recognise the overweight status of their offspring. The aim of this study was to analyze the factors associated with a parent's ability to recognise their own offspring's overweight status.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>125 overweight children out of all 1,278 school beginners in Northern Finland were enrolled.</p> <p>Weight and height were measured in health care clinics. Overweight status was defined by BMI according to internationally accepted criteria. A questionnaire to be filled in by parents was delivered by the school nurses. The parents were asked to evaluate their offspring's weight status. The child's eating habits and physical activity patterns were also enquired about. Factor groups of food and physical activity habits were formed by factor analysis. Binary logistic regression was performed using all variables associated with recognition of overweight status in univariate analyses. The significant risk factors in the final model are reported using odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fifty-seven percent (69/120) of the parents of the overweight children considered their child as normal weight. Child's BMI was positively associated with parental recognition of overweight (OR 3.59, CI 1.8 to 7.0). Overweight boys were less likely to be recognised than overweight girls (OR 0.14, CI 0.033 to 0.58). Child's healthy diet (OR 0.22, CI 0.091 to 0.54) and high physical activity (OR 0.29, CI 0.11 to 0.79) were inversely related to parental recognition of overweight status.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Child's healthy eating habits and physical activity are inversely related to parental recognition of their offspring's overweight. These should be taken into account when planning prevention and treatment strategies for childhood obesity.</p
Legal protection of plant biotechnological inventions
Within biotechnology, plant production is regarded as one of the most promising adaptations. New plant breeding methods are considered to better fulfil the requirements set on patentability than the traditional breeding methods. In Europe, a plant variety can be protected by special legislation. The present patent laws in Europe are not applied to plant biotechnological inventions. The United States has three systems under which new varieties of plants may be protected. These include The 1930 Plant Patent Act, The 1970 Plant Variety Protection Act and The 1952 Patent Statute. Companies that have specialized in plant breeding and organizations representing the industrial countries recommend improvements to the legal protection. On the other hand, farmers and the developing countries are against better protection
Supernova Remnants and Star Formation in the Large Magellanic Cloud
It has often been suggested that supernova remnants (SNRs) can trigger star
formation. To investigate the relationship between SNRs and star formation, we
have examined the known sample of 45 SNRs in the Large Magellanic Cloud to
search for associated young stellar objects (YSOs) and molecular clouds. We
find seven SNRs associated with both YSOs and molecular clouds, three SNRs
associated with YSOs but not molecular clouds, and eight SNRs near molecular
clouds but not associated with YSOs. Among the 10 SNRs associated with YSOs,
the association between the YSOs and SNRs can be either rejected or cannot be
convincingly established for eight cases. Only two SNRs have YSOs closely
aligned along their rims; however, the time elapsed since the SNR began to
interact with the YSOs' natal clouds is much shorter than the contraction
timescales of the YSOs, and thus we do not see any evidence of SNR-triggered
star formation in the LMC. The 15 SNRs that are near molecular clouds may
trigger star formation in the future when the SNR shocks have slowed down to
<45 km/s. We discuss how SNRs can alter the physical properties and abundances
of YSOs.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, Accepted for publication in the August
2010 edition of the Astronomical Journa
Injection of Radioactivities into the Forming Solar System
Meteorite studies have revealed the presence of short-lived radioactivities
in the early solar system. The current data suggests that the origin of at
least some of the radioactivities requires contribution from recent
nucleosynthesis at a stellar site. This sets a strict time limit on the time
available for the formation of the solar system and argues for the theory of
the triggered origin of the solar system. According to this scenario, the
formation of our planetary system was initiated by the impact of an
interstellar shock wave on a molecular cloud core. The shock wave originated
from a nearby explosive stellar event and carried with it radioactivities
produced in the stellar source. In addition to triggering the collapse of the
molecular cloud core, the shock wave also deposited some of the freshly
synthesized radioactivities into the collapsing system. The radioactivities
were then incorporated into the first solar system solids, in this manner
leaving a record of the event in the meteoritic material. The viability of the
scenario can be investigated through numerical simulations studying the
processes involved in mixing shock wave material into the collapsing system.
The high-resolution calculations presented here show that injection occurs
through Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities, the injection efficiency is
approximately 10%, and temporal and spatial heterogeneities in the abundances
of the radioactivities existed at the time of their arrival in the forming
solar system.Comment: 13 pages, including 3 figures. Better-quality figures available at
http://www.public.asu.edu/~hvanhal/pubs
A deep wide-field sub-mm survey of the Carina Nebula complex
The Great Nebula in Carina is a superb location in which to study the physics
of violent massive star-formation and the resulting feedback effects, including
cloud dispersal and triggered star-formation. In order to reveal the cold dusty
clouds in the Carina Nebula complex, we used the Large APEX Bolometer Camera
LABOCA at the APEX telescope to map a 1.25 deg x 1.25 deg (= 50 x 50 pc^2)
region at 870 micrometer. From a comparison to Halpha images we infer that
about 6% of the 870 micrometer flux in the observed area is likely free-free
emission from the HII region, while about 94% of the flux is very likely
thermal dust emission. The total (dust + gas) mass of all clouds for which our
map is sensitive is ~ 60 000 Msun, in good agreement with the mass of the
compact clouds in this region derived from 13CO line observations. We generally
find good agreement in the cloud morphology seen at 870 micrometer and the
Spitzer 8 micrometer emission maps, but also identify a prominent infrared dark
cloud. Finally, we construct a radiative transfer model for the Carina Nebula
complex that reproduces the observed integrated spectral energy distribution
reasonably well. Our analysis suggests a total gas + dust mass of about 200000
Msun in the investigated area; most of this material is in the form of
molecular clouds, but a widely distributed component of (partly) atomic gas,
containing up to ~ 50% of the total mass, may also be present. Currently, only
some 10% of the gas is in sufficiently dense clouds to be immediately available
for future star formation, but this fraction may increase with time owing to
the ongoing compression of the strongly irradiated clouds and the expected
shockwaves of the imminent supernova explosions.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics; high-quality
pre-prints can be obtained from
http://www.usm.uni-muenchen.de/people/preibisch/publications.htm
Spitzer View of Young Massive Stars in the LMC HII Complexes. II. N159
The HII complex N159 in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is used to study
massive star formation in different environments, as it contains three giant
molecular clouds (GMCs) that have similar sizes and masses but exhibit
different intensities of star formation. We identify candidate massive young
stellar objects (YSOs) using infrared photometry, and model their SEDs to
constrain mass and evolutionary state. Good fits are obtained for less evolved
Type I, I/II, and II sources. Our analysis suggests that there are massive
embedded YSOs in N159B, a maser source, and several ultracompact HII regions.
Massive O-type YSOs are found in GMCs N159-E and N159-W, which are associated
with ionized gas, i.e., where massive stars formed a few Myr ago. The third
GMC, N159-S, has neither O-type YSOs nor evidence of previous massive star
formation. This correlation between current and antecedent formation of massive
stars suggests that energy feedback is relevant. We present evidence that
N159-W is forming YSOs spontaneously, while collapse in N159-E may be
triggered. Finally, we compare star formation rates determined from YSO counts
with those from integrated H-alpha and 24 micron luminosities and expected from
gas surface densities. Detailed dissection of extragalactic GMCs like the one
presented here is key to revealing the physics underlying commonly used star
formation scaling laws.Comment: 60 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in Astrophysical
Journa
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