Agriculture In change: evaluation of factors influencing the adoption of smart farming technologies in Portugal

Recent developments in technology, such as Smart Farming Technologies (“SFT”),have the potential of revolutionizing agriculture .However, the level of adoption falls short of expectations, implying the importance of understanding the drivers of and barriers to technology adoption. Based on interviews with sector experts and field survey data, this paper analyses factors that may condition the adoption of SFT in Portugal. The logistic regression shows the importance of cost of investment, trialability of the technology, the awareness of available training programs and external financing, as well as the age and education of farmers for the adoption of SFT

Electricity Markets in a Time of Change: A Call to Arms for Business Research

Europe’s clean energy transition is imperative to combat climate change and represents an economic opportunity to become independent of fossil fuels. As such, the energy transition has become one of the most important, but also one of the most challenging economic and societal projects today. Electricity systems of the past were characterized by price-inelastic demand and only a small number of large electricity generators. The transition towards intermittent renewable energy sources changes this very paradigm. Future electricity systems will consist of many thousands of electricity generators and consumers that actively participate in markets, offering flexibility to balance variable electricity supply in markets with a high spatial and temporal resolution. These structural changes have ample consequences for market operators, generators, industrial consumers as well as prosumers. While a large body of the literature is devoted to the energy transition in engineering and the natural sciences, it has received relatively little attention in the recent business research literature, even though many of the central challenges for a successful energy transition are at the core of business research. Therefore, we provide an up-to-date overview of key questions in electricity market design and discuss how changes in electricity markets lead to new research challenges in business research disciplines such as accounting, business & information systems engineering, finance, marketing, operations management, operations research, and risk management

How Germany achieved a record share of renewables during the COVID-19 pandemic while relying on the European interconnected power network

In 2020, Germany reached a maximum share of 50.5% intermittent renewables in electricity generation. Such a high share results in an increasing need for flexibility measures such as international transmission flexibility, i.e., electricity imports and exports. In fact, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Germany changed from a former electricity net exporter to a net importer. This paper, therefore, analyzes what we can learn from the resulting development of German electricity imports as a flexibility measure from a market, environmental, and network perspective. We analyze data on electricity imports/exports, generation, prices, and interconnection capacities of 38 bidding zones, respectively 11 countries within the ENTSO-E. In particular, we formulate three hypotheses to partition our overarching research question. Our results reveal that from a market perspective, Germany's increased need for transmission flexibility did not generally result in increased prices for German electricity imports. Also, from an environmental perspective, Germany increasingly relied on electricity imports from countries that exhibited a lower share of renewables. Finally, during the COVID-19 pandemic some of Germany's interconnection capacities to its neighboring countries exhibited a higher utilization. In view of our results, German policymakers may reflect on decarbonization policies considering a holistic European perspective

Cation distribution in manganese cobaltite spinels Co3−xMnxO4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) determined by thermal analysis

Thermogravimetric analysis was used in order to study the reduction in air of submicronic powders of Co3−x Mn x O4 spinels, with 0 ≤ x ≤ 1. For x = 0 (i.e. Co3O4), cation reduction occurred in a single step. It involved the CoIII ions at the octahedral sites, which were reduced to Co2+ on producing CoO. For 0 < x ≤ 1, the reduction occurred in two stages at increasing temperature with increasing amounts of manganese. The first step corresponded to the reduction of octahedral CoIII ions and the second was attributed to the reduction of octahedral Mn4+ ions to Mn3+. From the individual weight losses and the electrical neutrality of the lattice, the CoIII and Mn4+ ion concentrations were calculated. The distribution of cobalt and manganese ions present on each crystallographic site of the spinel was determined. In contrast to most previous studies that took into account either CoIII and Mn3+ or Co2+, CoIII and Mn4+ only, our thermal analysis study showed that Co2+/CoIII and Mn3+/Mn4+ pairs occupy the octahedral sites. These results were used to explain the resistivity measurements carried out on dense ceramics prepared from our powders sintered at low temperature (700–750 °C) in a Spark Plasma Sintering apparatus

Combination fluticasone and salmeterol versus fixed dose combination budesonide and formoterol for chronic asthma in adults and children

BackgroundCombination therapies are frequently recommended as maintenance therapy for people with asthma, whose disease is not adequately controlled with inhaled steroids. Fluticasone/salmeterol (FP/SAL) and budesonide/formoterol (BUD/F) have been assessed against their respective monocomponents, but there is a need to compare these two therapies on a head-to-head basis.ObjectivesTo estimate the relative effects of fluticasone/salmeterol and budesonide/formoterol in terms of asthma control, safety and lung function.Search strategyWe searched the Cochrane Airways Group register of trials with prespecified terms. We performed additional hand searching of manufacturers' web sites and online trial registries. Searches are current to May 2008.Selection criteriaRandomised studies comparing fixed dose FP/SAL and BUD/ F were eligible, for a minimum of 12 weeks. Crossover studies were excluded. Our primary outcomes were: i) exacerbations requiring oral steroid bursts, ii) hospital admission and iii) serious adverse events.Data collection and analysisTwo authors independently assessed studies for inclusion in the review. We combined continuous data outcomes with a mean difference (MD), and dichotomous data outcomes with an odds ratio (OR).Main resultsFive studies met the review entry criteria (5537 participants). Primary outcomes: The odds of an exacerbation requiring oral steroids did not differ significantly between treatments (OR 0.89; 95% CI 0.73 to 1.09, three studies, 4515 participants). The odds of an exacerbation leading hospital admission were also not significantly different (OR 1.29; 95% CI 0.68 to 2.47, four studies, 4879 participants). The odds of serious adverse events did not differ significantly between treatments (OR 1.47; 95% CI 0.75, 2.86, three studies, 4054 participants). Secondary outcomes: Lung function outcomes, symptoms, rescue medication, exacerbations leading ED visit/hospital admission and adverse events were not significantly different between treatments.Authors' conclusionsThe evidence in this review indicates that differences in the requirement for oral steroids and hospital admission between BUD/F and FP/SAL do not reach statistical significance. However, the confidence intervals do not exclude clinically important differences between treatments in reducing exacerbations or causing adverse events. The width of the confidence intervals for the primary outcomes justify further trials in order to better determine the relative effects of these drug combinations. Although this review sought to assess the effects of these drugs in both adults and children, no trials were identified in the under-12s and research in this area is of a high priority

New mechanism underlying IL-31-induced atopic dermatitis

LBK

Returning to work in lung cancer survivors : a multi-center cross-sectional study in Germany

PURPOSE To investigate the work situation of lung cancer survivors and to identify the factors associated with their returning to work. METHODS Descriptive analysis and logistic regression were used to evaluate study population characteristics and independent factors of subsequently returning to work. To analyze time to return to work, Cox regression was used. RESULTS The study sample included 232 lung cancer survivors of working age from 717 enrolled participants in the multi-center cross-sectional LARIS (Quality of Life and Psychosocial Rehabilitation in Lung Cancer Survivors) study. About 67% of the survivors were not employed during the survey. More than 51% of the survivors who were employed before their illness did not return to their work. The survivors who had returned to their careers were younger, associated with higher household income, lower fatigue score, and stable relationship and vocational training. Patients who received social service counseling showed a higher chance of regaining their career. CONCLUSIONS Lung cancer survivors were found to be associated with a high risk of unemployment and very low professional reintegration after interruption due to illness. More comprehensive studies are needed to support lung cancer survivors and targeting of patients in need of special attention in rehabilitation that would benefit from the findings in the present study

Prognostic Value of Urinary Calprotectin, NGAL and KIM-1 in Chronic Kidney Disease

Background/Aims: Urinary biomarkers like neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) do not only allow an early diagnosis of acute kidney injury, but also provide prognostic information in this setting. The present prospective study investigates, whether the urinary biomarkers NGAL, KIM-1 and calprotectin have prognostic information in chronic kidney disease (CKD) as well. Methods: Urinary calprotectin, NGAL and KIM-1 concentrations were assessed in a study population of 143 patients with stable CKD comprising diabetic and hypertensive nephropathy, glomerulonephritis/vasculitis, and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. An eGFR fluctuation &#x3e; 5ml/min/1.73m2 in the past 12 months was defined as an exclusion criterion in order to exclude cases with acute on chronic kidney injury. Renal function was monitored for a median follow-up of 37 months. Results: In the overall study population, all the three biomarkers failed to predict DeGFR and DACR from baseline to follow-up in linear regression analysis adjusted for age, gender, and baseline eGFR. Contrarily, baseline ACR was significantly associated with DeGFR (p&#x3c; 0.001). In the subgroup of patients with vasculitis and glomerulonephritis, all the three biomarkers were significantly associated with DeGFR, with calprotectin having the highest regression coefficient. Conclusion: In contrast to the traditional biomarker “albuminuria”, neither the inflammatory biomarker calprotectin, nor the tubular biomarkers NGAL and KIM-1, provide robust prognostic information on the loss or renal function in a heterogeneous CKD population. All of them, however, are candidate prognostic biomarkers in primarily inflammatory renal diseases