Analysis of educational information on the websites of Swedish zoos

The way that we as a global society live our lives at the moment is resulting in a decline of biodiversity worldwide. A lot of people want to do something to change this but they do not know how. Conservation professionals work on providing people with the necessary information and knowledge to be able to make sustainable choices and ways to fight the loss of biodiversity. A good place to distribute this information and knowledge is in zoos and aquaria. For such educational programs to be successful there are certain things they need to contain. This includes information about the species and their natural habitats, possible threats, biodiversity, conservation work and ways for visitors to help the species. There is also a lot of evidence that inspiring and positive information can have a large effect in getting visitors to help, for example by donating money. The aim of this study was to map out the availability of such conservation educational information on Swedish zoos websites. Results showed that information about species and their natural habitats was available at all studied websites, but information about biodiversity and ways for visitors to help was missing on all studied websites. These results could indicate that Swedish zoos need to increase the conservation educational information they supply to visitors of their websites. Future research could investigate how to ensure that the educational programs actually lead to visitors taking action to help the environment and changing their behaviours and choices to be more sustainable. The aspect of web design might also be beneficial to look into to find out how best to present the information online

Rakennetun ympäristön päästöjen hallinnan johtaminen kunnissa: Kestävä kuntakehitys Suomessa

Työn tarkoituksena on tutkia rakennetun ympäristön päästöjen hallinnan johtamisen käsitettä suomalaisissa kunnissa. Nykyinen tutkimus aiheesta on hyvin vaihtelevaa, mikä johtaa kysymykseen, miten päästöjä voidaan hallita systemaattisesti, kun pohjatieto on erilaista eri kunnissa. Tutkimustietoa on niin rakennetusta ympäristöstä, rakentamisesta, yleisesti päästöjen hallinnasta ja kuntajohtamisesta, mutta perusteellinen tutkimus aiheesta puuttuu. Siksi tutkimuskysymykseksi muodostettiin ”Kuinka rakennetun ympäristön päästöjen hallintaa johdetaan suomalaisissa kunnissa?” ja kahdeksi alatutkimuskysymykseksi ”Millaiset työkalut ja menetelmät ovat kriittisiä menestyksekkääseen päästöjen hallinnan johtamiseen?” ja ”Millaisia näkemyksiä ja intressejä päästöjen hallinnan johtamiseen liittyy?” Tutkimus toteutettiin kahdessa osassa: systemaattisen tiedonhakuprosessin mukaisesti kirjallisuuskatsauksena, jonka jälkeen muodostettiin kyselytutkimus suomalaisiin kuntiin. Kohderyhmäksi valittiin 82 hiilineutraalisuutta tavoittelevaa kuntaa (Hinku) valtakunnallisesta Hinku-verkostosta, joka on asettanut osallistuville kunnille yhteisen hiilineutraalisuuden tavoitteen. Kuntien Hinku-verkoston yhteyshenkilölle lähetettiin kysely, jossa oli väittämiä ja avoimia kysymyksiä. Vastausprosentti oli 22 % ja vastaukset olivat monipuolisia. Teoriaosuudelle saatiin hyvin tukea myös suomalaisten kuntien kontekstissa ja näistä saatiin rakennettua suomalaiselle kunnalle sopiva rakennetun ympäristön päästöjen hallinnan johtamisen viitekehys. Merkittävimmät tulokset liittyivät tiedon johtamiseen ja hyödyntämiseen. Päästöjen hallinnan johtamisesta tulisi saada hajautettua ja systemaattista, mikä johtaa päästöjen syntymisen, torjunnan ja hiilen sitouttamisen hallintaan. Tämä vaatii kuitenkin sosiaalisen paineen ja yleisen kiinnostumisen päästöjen hallintaa kohtaan ja myös teknologisten toteutuksien kasvun. Työkaluja kunnissa hyödynnetään vain muutamia, vaikka kokonaisvaltainen päästöjen hallinnan johtaminen edellyttää useampien työkalujen samanaikaista hyödyntämistä. Työkalut tyypillisesti olivat asiantuntijapalveluiden hyödyntäminen ja päästöjen raportointi. Rakennetun ympäristön päästöjen hallinnan johtamisen viitekehyksessä yhdistyy strategia, pitkän aikavälin suunnitelma, lyhyen aikavälin suunnitelmat ja näiden vaatimat työkalut nyt ja tulevaisuudessa. Tällä hetkellä tulisi hyödyntää erityisesti tietokantoja, päästölaskentaa, viestintää ja kouluttamista. Tämän hetken näkymän mukaan seuraavaksi tulisi kehittää verkostoja ja yhteistyökanavia, kokonaisvaltaista päästöjen seurantaa ja vertailua, tutkimuksen lisäämistä ja innovointia ja kuntalaisten osallistamista

Patienters erfarenheter av smärtlindring efter en ortopedisk operation.

Smärta är vanligt förkommande efter ortopediska operationer och behöver behandlas för att minska lidande och risken för postoperativa komplikationer. Trots att vikten av smärtlindring är känd existerar hinder för att uppnå god smärtlindring. Syftet var att belysa patienters erfarenhet av smärta med huvudfokus på smärtlindring efter en ortopedisk operation. En litteraturstudie med integrerad analys har genomförts. Såväl kvalitativa som kvantitativa studier har ingått. Efter analys framkom fyra huvudteman; Att veta en del men inte allt, Att vara nöjd med smärtlindringen, Att ha ont i alla fall, Att vårdas av en expert. Patienter har en del kunskap om smärtlindring men saknar information från sjuksköterskor, vilka ses som experter i ämnet. Sjuksköterskor ses som experter vilket kan göra det svårt för patienter att ställa frågor till dem. Patienter har en tendens att acceptera och uthärda smärta men är i hög grad nöjda med smärtlindringen. Sjuksköterskor behöver vara medvetna om att de ses som experter på smärtlindring och verka för att utjämna avståndet mellan patient och sjuksköterska genom att arbeta personcentrerat

Dairy cow longevity: Impact of animal health and farmers? investment decisions

A dairy farmer's decision to cull or keep dairy cows is likely a complex decision based on animal health and farm management practices. The present paper investigated the relationship between cow longevity and animal health, and between longevity and farm investments, while controlling for farm-sp ecific charac-teristics and animal management practices, by using Swedish dairy farm and production data for the period 2009 to 2018. We used the ordinary least square and unconditional quantile regression model to perform mean-based and heterogeneous-based analysis, re-spectively. Findings from the study indicate that, on average, animal health has a negative but insignificant effect on dairy herd longevity. This implies that cull-ing is predominantly done for other reasons than poor health status. Investment in farm infrastructure has a positive and significant effect on dairy herd longevity. The investment in farm infrastructure creates room for new or superior recruitment heifers without the need to cull existing dairy cows. Production variables that prolong dairy cow longevity include higher milk yield and an extended calving interval. Findings from this study imply that the relatively short longevity of dairy cows in Sweden compared with some dairy producing countries is not a result of problems with health and welfare. Rather, dairy cow longevity in Sweden hinges on the farmers' investment decisions, farm-specific characteristics and animal management practices

What can we learn from the past? Tracking sustainability indicators for the Swedish dairy sector over 30 years

CONTEXT: The dairy sector has undergone profound transformation over recent decades, resulting in considerably fewer but larger and more specialised farms, with unclear implications across sustainability dimensions.OBJECTIVE: The objective was to develop and employ a framework for assessing sustainability in the Swedish dairy sector to shed light on how recent historical developments (1990-2020) have influenced sustainability outcomes.METHODS: Using a data-driven, multidisciplinary approach, main areas of concern for sustainability in the primary production stages of the dairy sector were identified. These were then populated with indicators to track developments over time and highlight synergies and trade-offs.RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Four areas of concern were identified and populated with eight indicators (listed in brackets): 'supporting ecosystems' (semi-natural grassland area, ley area, mean field size), 'climate impact' (methane from enteric fermentation), 'animal welfare' (veterinary treatments, percentage of culled cows due to diseases) and 'farm viability' (competitive wages, farmer age structure). The results showed that area of seminatural grassland per dairy cow decreased by 27% from 2003 to 2020. Area of ley per cow decreased slightly but the proportion of arable land on dairy farms devoted to ley cultivation increased, due to improved roughage quality enabling an increase in proportion of roughage in feed rations. In terms of climate impact, enteric methane emissions per kg milk decreased by 21%. Regarding animal welfare, veterinary treatments of diseases decreased from 45% to 21% over the 30 years, with declining trends for most recorded diseases except hoof disease. The indicators for farm viability showed that the average dairy farm was unable to pay a wage com-parable to the national average throughout most of the period 2004-2020, but a slightly positive trend was observed, although with large year-on-year variability. A rapid change in age structure was seen between 2003 and 2020, with the proportion of land managed by older farmers (+60 years) increasing from 12% to 22%, indicating challenges with demographic viability.SIGNIFICANCE: Tracking changes over time across sustainability dimensions gives important insights into improvements made and challenges that remain to be solved. Overall, developments in the Swedish dairy sector have diminished its capacity to support ecosystems, particularly related to semi-natural grasslands, while reducing its climate impacts and improving animal welfare. An increased specialisation has also resulted in spillover effects where services and impacts have shifted from dairy herds to specialised beef herds. These findings are important in navigating policy processes targeting developments in the dairy sector

Dairy cow longevity and farm economic performance: Evidence from Swedish dairy farms

The longevity of dairy cows is mainly determined by farmers' subjective culling decisions and can be linked to the environmental impact of dairy production and to the social acceptance of the industry. Still, the economic impacts of dairy cow longevity are not well understood. The aim of this study was to examine how herd average dairy cow longevity is related to the farm economic outcome. We used 3 indicators of economic outcome: technical efficiency, profitability, and average milk yield per cow. We used 2 indicators of dairy cow longevity: average herd length of life and average herd length of productive life. The study was based on a unique and detailed dataset from Swedish dairy agriculture, where herd-management data from the national dairy herd recording scheme were combined with farm-level economic variables from the Swedish Farm Accountancy Survey, for a total of 1,959 observations from 2010 to 2018. The regression results highlight that both measures of average herd dairy cow longevity have an overall positive and significant association with farm-level economic performance. These associations had an inverted U-shape, which implies that the association is first positive and then declines. Descriptive statistics indicate that the point where the maximum economic performance is attained varied across the economic indicators. Our results are relevant for individual dairy farmers and their advisors, who are interested in understanding how herd average longevity relates to economic performance on the farms. Our results are also important from a greater sustainability perspective, because linking them to previous knowledge about the environmental and social sustainability benefits of keeping cows longer highlights longevity-associated trade-offs between those benefits and the farm economic outcomes

What can we learn from the past? Tracking sustainability indicators for the Swedish dairy sector over 30 years

CONTEXT: The dairy sector has undergone profound transformation over recent decades, resulting in considerably fewer but larger and more specialised farms, with unclear implications across sustainability dimensions. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to develop and employ a framework for assessing sustainability in the Swedish dairy sector to shed light on how recent historical developments (1990–2020) have influenced sustainability outcomes. METHODS: Using a data-driven, multidisciplinary approach, main areas of concern for sustainability in the primary production stages of the dairy sector were identified. These were then populated with indicators to track developments over time and highlight synergies and trade-offs. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Four areas of concern were identified and populated with eight indicators (listed in brackets): ‘supporting ecosystems’ (semi-natural grassland area, ley area, mean field size), ‘climate impact’ (methane from enteric fermentation), ‘animal welfare’ (veterinary treatments, percentage of culled cows due to diseases) and ‘farm viability’ (competitive wages, farmer age structure). The results showed that area of semi-natural grassland per dairy cow decreased by 27% from 2003 to 2020. Area of ley per cow decreased slightly but the proportion of arable land on dairy farms devoted to ley cultivation increased, due to improved roughage quality enabling an increase in proportion of roughage in feed rations. In terms of climate impact, enteric methane emissions per kg milk decreased by 21%. Regarding animal welfare, veterinary treatments of diseases decreased from 45% to 21% over the 30 years, with declining trends for most recorded diseases except hoof disease. The indicators for farm viability showed that the average dairy farm was unable to pay a wage comparable to the national average throughout most of the period 2004–2020, but a slightly positive trend was observed, although with large year-on-year variability. A rapid change in age structure was seen between 2003 and 2020, with the proportion of land managed by older farmers (+60 years) increasing from 12% to 22%, indicating challenges with demographic viability. SIGNIFICANCE: Tracking changes over time across sustainability dimensions gives important insights into improvements made and challenges that remain to be solved. Overall, developments in the Swedish dairy sector have diminished its capacity to support ecosystems, particularly related to semi-natural grasslands, while reducing its climate impacts and improving animal welfare. An increased specialisation has also resulted in spillover effects where services and impacts have shifted from dairy herds to specialised beef herds. These findings are important in navigating policy processes targeting developments in the dairy sector

Low socioeconomic status relates to asthma and wheeze, especially in women

Low socioeconomic status (SES) has been associated with asthma and wheezing. Occupational group, educational level and income are commonly used indicators for SES, but no single indicator can illustrate the entire complexity of SES. The aim was to investigate how different indicators of SES associate with current asthma, allergic and nonallergic, and asthmatic wheeze. In 2016, a random sample of the population aged 20–79 years in Northern Sweden were invited to a postal questionnaire survey, with 58% participating (n=6854). The survey data were linked to the national Integrated Database for Labour Market Research by Statistics Sweden for the previous calendar year, 2015. Included SES indicators were occupation, educational level and income. Manual workers had increased risk for asthmatic wheeze, and manual workers in service for current asthma, especially allergic asthma. Primary school education associated with nonallergic asthma, whereas it tended to be inversely associated with allergic asthma. Low income was associated with asthmatic wheeze. Overall, the findings were more prominent among women, and interaction analyses between sex and income revealed that women, but not men, with low income had an increased risk both for asthmatic wheeze and current asthma, especially allergic asthma. To summarise, the different indicators of socioeconomic status illustrated various aspects of associations between low SES and asthma and wheeze, and the most prominent associations were found among women.Peer reviewe

High but stable incidence of adult-onset asthma in northern Sweden over the last decades

Background The prevalence of asthma has increased both among children and adults during the latter half of the 20th century. The prevalence among adults is affected by the incidence of asthma not only in childhood but also in adulthood. Time trends in asthma incidence have been poorly studied. Aims The aim of this study was to review the incidence of adult-onset asthma from 1996 to 2006 and 2006 to 2016 and compare the risk factor patterns. Methods In the Obstructive Lung Disease in Northern Sweden (OLIN) studies, two randomly selected population-based samples in the 20-69-year age group participated in postal questionnaire surveys about asthma in 1996 (n=7104, 85%) and 2006 (n=6165, 77%). A 10-year follow-up of the two cohorts with the same validated questionnaire was performed, and 5709 and 4552 responded, respectively. Different definitions of population at risk were used in the calculations of asthma incidence. The protocol followed a study performed between 1986 and 1996 in the same area. Results The crude incidence rate of physician-diagnosed asthma was 4.4 per 1000 person-years (men 3.8, women 5.5) from 1996 to 2006, and 4.8 per 1000 person-years (men 3.7, women 6.2) from 2006 to 2016. When correcting for possible under-diagnosis at study entry, the incidence rate was 2.4 per 1000 personyears from 1996 to 2006 and 2.6 per 1000 person-years from 2006 to 2016. The incidence rates were similar across age groups. Allergic rhino-conjunctivitis was the main risk factor for incident asthma in both observation periods (risk ratio 2.4-2.6). Conclusions The incidence of adult-onset asthma has been stable over the last two decades and has remained at a similar level since the 1980s. The high incidence contributes to the increase in asthma prevalence.Peer reviewe