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

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 “The Materials Flow and Ecoefficiency of Agriculture and the Sustainable Compatibility of the Food Production” 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

Visions for small-scale renewable energy production on Finnish farms – A Delphi study on the opportunities for new business

The processes of molt and reproduction, and the overlap of the two during a bird's life, are practically unstudied in most tropical environments in South America, especially in Peruvian Amazonia. Our study contributes to understanding these processes in this Neotropical region by analyzing data on molt and reproduction of the understory avifauna and their relationship to different biotic environmental (flowering and fruiting) and abiotic factors (precipitation, temperature) during one year in the Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve in northeastern Peru. A total of 1556 individuals, belonging to 108 species, were captured, of which 847 were molting. Likewise, only 89 individuals were found with a fully vascularized brood patch. However, the level of overlap with molting was high, as a total of 44 (49%) of the birds with a brood patch were also molting primaries. We found that both molt and reproduction occurred throughout the year, with peaks in June-July (the less rainy season) and October-November (the beginning of the rainy season). There was a positive correlation between molt and breeding, and a negative correlation between the presence of juveniles and the fruiting of woody plants. However, we found no statistically significant correlation of molt or reproduction with precipitation, temperature, flowering, and fruiting seasons of woody plants. These results may be subject to the influence of climatological factors and the availability of food resources, such as arthropods, that were not covered in this study. Furthermore, inference is limited due to the relatively short time frame of the study.</p

Lifetime serum concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D 25(OH) is associated with hand grip strengths: insight from a Mendelian randomisation

Clinical trials have suggested that increased 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) has positive effect on hand grip strength. This Mendelian randomisation (MR) was implemented using summary-level data from the largest genome-wide association studies on vitamin D (n = 73,699) and hand grip strength. Inverse variance weighted method (IVW) was used to estimate the causal estimates. Weighted median (WM)-based method, MR-Egger and leave-one-out were applied as sensitivity analysis. Results showed that genetically higher-serum 25(OH)D levels had a positive effect on both right hand grip (IVW = Beta: 0.038, P = 0.030) and left hand grip (IVW = Beta: 0.034, P = 0.036). There was a low likelihood (statistically insignificant) of heterogeneity and pleiotropy, and the observed associations were not driven by single single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Furthermore, MR pleiotropy residual sum and outlier did not highlight any outliers. In conclusion, our results highlighted the causal and beneficial effect of serum 25(OH) D on right- and left-hand grip strengths

Emergency Management and Tourism Stakeholder Responses to Crises: A Global Survey

This paper examines the contested area of the responsibility for destinations and tourists, within emergency settings. It incorporates a Delphi-Scenario technique to facilitate a structured discussion of emergency management for different destination stakeholders. The Delphi exercise engaged 123 senior international stakeholders, from 9 different industry sectors, across 34 countries to provide a global perspective. The study’s principal focus is on the notion of emergency management, to identify the challenges that stakeholders would face within a disaster scenario. The exercise asked stakeholders to identify with whom the responsibility rests for 18 distinct disaster-related activities. The study proposes a responsibility allocation building-block framework which could help speed up the emergency management responses by ”knowing who is going to do what” with a particular focus on dealing with international tourists as a community in a disaster zone

High-Resolution Functional Mapping of the Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus Genome by Insertional Mutagenesis and Massively Parallel Sequencing

We have developed a high-resolution genomic mapping technique that combines transposon-mediated insertional mutagenesis with either capillary electrophoresis or massively parallel sequencing to identify functionally important regions of the Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) genome. We initially used a capillary electrophoresis method to gain insight into the role of the VEEV nonstructural protein 3 (nsP3) in viral replication. We identified several regions in nsP3 that are intolerant to small (15 bp) insertions, and thus are presumably functionally important. We also identified nine separate regions in nsP3 that will tolerate small insertions at low temperatures (30°C), but not at higher temperatures (37°C, and 40°C). Because we found this method to be extremely effective at identifying temperature sensitive (ts) mutations, but limited by capillary electrophoresis capacity, we replaced the capillary electrophoresis with massively parallel sequencing and used the improved method to generate a functional map of the entire VEEV genome. We identified several hundred potential ts mutations throughout the genome and we validated several of the mutations in nsP2, nsP3, E3, E2, E1 and capsid using single-cycle growth curve experiments with virus generated through reverse genetics. We further demonstrated that two of the nsP3 ts mutants were attenuated for virulence in mice but could elicit protective immunity against challenge with wild-type VEEV. The recombinant ts mutants will be valuable tools for further studies of VEEV replication and virulence. Moreover, the method that we developed is applicable for generating such tools for any virus with a robust reverse genetics system

FoxO1, A2M, and TGF-beta 1 : three novel genes predicting depression in gene X environment interactions are identified using cross-species and cross-tissues transcriptomic and miRNomic analyses

To date, gene-environment (GxE) interaction studies in depression have been limited to hypothesis-based candidate genes, since genome-wide (GWAS)-based GxE interaction studies would require enormous datasets with genetics, environmental, and clinical variables. We used a novel, cross-species and cross-tissues "omics" approach to identify genes predicting depression in response to stress in GxE interactions. We integrated the transcriptome and miRNome profiles from the hippocampus of adult rats exposed to prenatal stress (PNS) with transcriptome data obtained from blood mRNA of adult humans exposed to early life trauma, using a stringent statistical analyses pathway. Network analysis of the integrated gene lists identified the Forkhead box protein O1 (FoxO1), Alpha-2-Macroglobulin (A2M), and Transforming Growth Factor Beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) as candidates to be tested for GxE interactions, in two GWAS samples of adults either with a range of childhood traumatic experiences (Grady Study Project, Atlanta, USA) or with separation from parents in childhood only (Helsinki Birth Cohort Study, Finland). After correction for multiple testing, a meta-analysis across both samples confirmed six FoxO1 SNPs showing significant GxE interactions with early life emotional stress in predicting depressive symptoms. Moreover, in vitro experiments in a human hippocampal progenitor cell line confirmed a functional role of FoxO1 in stress responsivity. In secondary analyses, A2M and TGF-beta 1 showed significant GxE interactions with emotional, physical, and sexual abuse in the Grady Study. We therefore provide a successful 'hypothesis-free' approach for the identification and prioritization of candidate genes for GxE interaction studies that can be investigated in GWAS datasets.Peer reviewe

Scenarios for future agriculture in Finland: a Delphi study among agri-food sector stakeholders

This article presents alternative scenarios for future agriculture in Finland up to 2025. These scenarios are the results of a large Delphi study carried out among Finnish agri-food sector stakeholders. The Delphi panel members gave their future view on desirable and probable futures. From these two dimensions, three scenarios were elaborated through the future images the subjective future path and the importance analysis. The scenarios represent a technology optimistic day-dream agriculture, a probable future as industrialised agriculture and an undesirable future path as drifting agriculture. Two mini-scenarios are also presented. They are based on a discontinuity event as an unexpected impact of climate change and an analogy event as an ecological breakdown due to the expansive animal disease epidemics. In both mini-scenarios, the directions of storylines are dramatically changed. The scenarios support strategic planning introducing not only one forecast but alternative outcomes as a basis for future strategy and decisions. In this study the scenarios were constructed to address the opportunities as a desired vision and also the threats as to an undesirable future in the agricultural sector. These results bring to the table a Finnish agri-food expert community view of the future directions of relevant key issues in the agricultural policy agenda.;Suomen maatalouteen vaikuttavat lähitulevaisuudessamm. ruokamarkkinoiden samanaikainen globalisoituminen ja lokalisoituminen, Euroopan unionin laajeneminen, maataloustuotteiden maailmankaupan vapauttaminen, maatalouspolitiikan kuluttaja-, ympäristö- ja maaseutulähtöisyyden vahvistuminen sekä bio- ja informaatioteknologian kasvava rooli tuotannossa ja markkinoinnissa. Artikkelissa esitetään asiantuntijoiden vaihtoehtoisia skenaarioita Suomen maatalouden tulevaisuudesta maatalous- ja muun yhteiskuntapoliittisen päätöksenteon tueksi. Tässä tutkimuksessa maatalouden toimintaympäristön muutoksia ja niiden vaikutuksia tunnistettiin ja koostettiin tulevaisuudentutkimuksessa paljon käytetyllä Delfoi-menetelmällä. Tutkimuksessa on sovellettu kaksikierroksista Delfoita. Ensimmäisellä kierroksella tuotettiin asiantuntijoiden tulevaisuudenkuvia perusteluineen Suomen maataloudesta. Toisella kierroksella tarkennettiin ensimmäisen kierroksen vastauksia ja kysyttiin asiantuntijoilta tarkentavia tapahtuma-aika-arvioita sekä muutoksen suuntia skenaarioiden rakentamista varten. Vaihtoehtoiset skenaariot ovat Mahdollisuuksien maatalous, Teollistuva maatalous ja Maatalous tuuliajolla. Lisäksi esitetään kaksi mini-skenaariota, joissa tuodaan esille potentiaalisten yllätysten mahdollisuus muokata maataloutta radikaalistikin. Miniskenaariot perustuvat epäjatkuvuustapahtumaan ja analogiatapahtumaan. Epäjatkuvuutena esitetään Odottamaton ilmasto -miniskenaario, jossa äkillinen ilmastonmuutos vaikuttaa dramaattisesti maatalouteen. Analogiatapahtumana esitetään Hullun lehmän paluu, jossa kotieläimiin ja ihmisiin Suomen maatalouteen vaikuttavat lähitulevaisuudessa mm. ruokamarkkinoiden samanaikainen globalisoituminen ja lokalisoituminen, Euroopan unionin laajeneminen, maataloustuotteiden maailmankaupan vapauttaminen, maatalouspolitiikan kuluttaja-, ympäristö- ja maaseutulähtöisyyden vahvistuminen sekä bio- ja informaatioteknologian kasvava rooli tuotannossa ja markkinoinnissa. Artikkelissa esitetään asiantuntijoiden vaihtoehtoisia skenaarioita Suomen maatalouden tulevaisuudesta maatalous- ja muun yhteiskuntapoliittisen päätöksenteon tueksi. Tässä tutkimuksessa maatalouden toimintaympäristön muutoksia ja niiden vaikutuksia tunnistettiin ja koostettiin tulevaisuudentutkimuksessa paljon käytetyllä Delfoi-menetelmällä. Tutkimuksessa on sovellettu kaksikierroksista Delfoita. Ensimmäisellä kierroksella tuotettiin asiantuntijoiden tulevaisuudenkuvia perusteluineen Suomen maataloudesta. Toisella kierroksella tarkennettiin ensimmäisen kierroksen vastauksia ja kysyttiin asiantuntijoilta tarkentavia tapahtuma-aika-arvioita sekä muutoksen suuntia skenaarioiden rakentamista varten. Vaihtoehtoiset skenaariot ovat Mahdollisuuksien maatalous, Teollistuva maatalous ja Maatalous tuuliajolla. Lisäksi esitetään kaksi mini-skenaariota, joissa tuodaan esille potentiaalisten yllätysten mahdollisuus muokata maataloutta radikaalistikin. Miniskenaariot perustuvat epäjatkuvuustapahtumaan ja analogiatapahtumaan. Epäjatkuvuutena esitetään Odottamaton ilmasto -miniskenaario, jossa äkillinen ilmastonmuutos vaikuttaa dramaattisesti maatalouteen. Analogiatapahtumana esitetään Hullun lehmän paluu, jossa kotieläimiin ja ihmisiin helpommin tarttuva eläintauti vaikuttaa radikaalisti kotieläin- ja maatalouteen

Scenarios for future agriculture in Finland: a Delphi study among agri-food sector stakeholders

This article presents alternative scenarios for future agriculture in Finland up to 2025. These scenarios are the results of a large Delphi study carried out among Finnish agri-food sector stakeholders. The Delphi panel members gave their future view on desirable and probable futures. From these two dimensions, three scenarios were elaborated through the future images the subjective future path and the importance analysis. The scenarios represent a technology optimistic day-dream agriculture, a probable future as industrialised agriculture and an undesirable future path as drifting agriculture. Two mini-scenarios are also presented. They are based on a discontinuity event as an unexpected impact of climate change and an analogy event as an ecological breakdown due to the expansive animal disease epidemics. In both mini-scenarios, the directions of storylines are dramatically changed. The scenarios support strategic planning introducing not only one forecast but alternative outcomes as a basis for future strategy and decisions. In this study the scenarios were constructed to address the opportunities as a desired vision and also the threats as to an undesirable future in the agricultural sector. These results bring to the table a Finnish agri-food expert community view of the future directions of relevant key issues in the agricultural policy agenda.

Management of investment processes on Finnish farms

Structural change in agriculture means a continuous need for investing in farm production. It is essential for the sustainable operations and the economy of the farm that such investments are successful. In this research, different stages of the investment process of farms were studied as well as the use of information and the success perceived during the investment process. The study was carried out with mail surveys and telephone interviews on the Finnish Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) farms. The most challenging investments were in animal husbandry buildings and, as to these investments, the comparison of alternatives was the most challenging stage. For most investments, the planning phase was considered more challenging than the implementation. Before making the decision, farmers acquired information from many sources, of which the opinion of the main customer and the experiences of fellow farmers were the most valued. Some of the products considered were so new on the market that it was not easy to get adequate information and, furthermore, the information given by suppliers was not always accurate. Decision-making was supported by calculations, but qualitative factors had a dominating role. Large basic decisions were made relatively quickly, while details needed a longer time to process. In general, farm managers were satisfied with their investments. Improvements in work quality and quantity were especially mentioned and generally qualitative factors were the ones first in mind when evaluating the successfulness of the investment.;Maatalouden rakennemuutos edellyttää tiloilta jatkuviainvestointeja tuotantovälineisiin. Tilan talouden ja toiminnan kannalta olisi tärkeää, että nämä investoinnit myös onnistuisivat mahdollisimman hyvin. Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitettiin suomalaisille kirjanpitotiloille tehdyn kysely- ja haastattelututkimuksen avulla investointiprosessin vaiheita ja niiden vaativuutta. Lisäksi kartoitettiin viljelijöiden tiedonhankintatapoja ja heidän käsitystään investointien onnistumisesta. Tutkimuksen mukaan kotieläinrakennukset koettiin investoinneista vaativimmiksi. Investointien suunnittelua pidettiin toteuttamista vaikeampana, ja eri vaihtoehtojen vertailu katsottiin kysytyistä vaiheista kaikkein vaativimmaksi. Viljelijät hankkivat tietoa investointikohteista monin tavoin ennen päätöksentekoa. Varsinkin asiakkaiden näkemykset ja toisten viljelijöiden kokemukset olivat arvostettuja lähteitä. Uudentyyppisistä ratkaisuista ja niiden yksityiskohdista sekä toimivuudesta omalla tilalla oli kuitenkin usein vaikea saada tietoa. Tavarantoimittajien antamaan informaatioon taas tuli viljelijöiden mielestä suhtautua kriittisesti. Päätöksenteon tueksi tehtiin erilaisia laskelmia, mutta laadulliset tekijät olivat siitä huolimatta valinnassa ratkaisevia. Suuret perusratkaisut tehtiin suhteellisen varhain, ja niiden yksityiskohtia hiottiin ja vertailtiin kauan. Viljelijät olivat tekemiinsä investointeihin keskimäärin tyytyväisiä. Tyytyväisyyttä tuottivat viljelijöiden mukaan erityisesti työolojen paraneminen ja työn määrän väheneminen, joten laadulliset tekijät nousivat myös investoinnin onnistumista arvioitaessa taloudellisten tekijöiden rinnalle