Productivity and forage quality of a phytodiverse semi-natural grassland under various management regimes

Grassland management experiment (GrassMan) was set up in 2008 on a permanent semi-natural grassland in the Solling uplands, Germany. The main research focus is on the ecosystem functioning of the phytodiverse grassland (e.g. productivity and forage quality, water and nutrient fluxes). The aim of our study was to analyse the effects of vegetation composition and functional diversity on productivity and forage quality of the semi-natural permanent grassland. Variation in sward composition was achieved by herbicide application and resulted in three sward types: control sward type (without herbicide application), monocot-reduced and dicot-reduced. Further management factors included different nutrient input levels (without fertilizer and 180-30-100 kg/ha of N-P-K per year) and use intensity (cut once or three times a year). Functional diversity was determined by estimation of the yield shares for each species in the species composition and their specific functional characteristics. Forage quality was analysed by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). While sward type influenced the forage quality, yield variation was explained mainly by the management regime

Little Effect of Species Richness and Vegetation Composition on Herbage Production and Quality in a Permanent Temperate Grassland

Phytodiversity of grasslands has been shown to support production and other ecosystem services (e.g.Weigel et al. 2009, Tilman et al. 2012). However, in many of these studies, species richness was controlled by sowing and weeding and it was questionable to what extent the findings would also be applicable to permanent \u27real world\u27 grasslands where the species number is dependent on site and management conditions. In addition there is uncertainty about the effect of diversity on the herbage value for ruminants (Wrage et al. 2011). In a new approach to biodiversity experiments, we combined experimental and observational measures and modified the vegetation of a permanent grassland by the use of herbicides (Petersen et al. 2012). We measured herbage production and quality over two full harvest years

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Microscopic Mechanisms of Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption of Analyte Molecules:

this paper, we have set d 0 ) 3,# n ) 0.1 eV, and R)1 .A mass, m, of 100 Da is attributed to each matrix molecule. The cohesive energy of the molecular matrix is # c ) 0.6 eV, the elastic bulk modulus is on the order of 5 GPa, and the density is 1.2 g/cm . The parameters are chosen to model a generic molecular soli

Energy requirements and solar availability in suburban areas: the influence of density in an existing district

Urban sprawl is a major issue in terms of sustainable development. In fact, low-density suburban neighbourhoods represent a significant contribution to the overall energy consumption of a territory for energy needs in buildings and for transportation. But, although the environmental impacts of urban sprawl and their associated energy consumptions are now well documented, it remains a concern in many regions. This phenomenon is particularly familiar in Belgium, where 52% of the building stock is composed of detached and semi-detached houses, predominantly located in low-density suburban districts (contained in a range between five and twelve dwellings per hectare). In the current context of growing interest in environmental issues, local authorities become aware of this concern and are now trying to limit the development of new low-density suburban districts while households still continue to promote dispersed individual housing types located outside city centres. In this context, the paper proposes to investigate the influence of an increase in built density, in existing suburban neighbourhoods. The idea is to favour a higher built density in existing neighbourhoods instead of building new low-density neighbourhoods on unbuilt areas. The impacts of four renewal strategies dealing with the density are assessed, at the neighbourhood scale, for three indicators: (1) the potential energy savings for heating houses, (2) the solar energy received by the facades and roofs, as dispersed individual housing types are known to be those that receive most solar gains and (3) the potential area of land savings. The influence of insulation, climate conditions and orientation is finally discussed. The chosen case study is a typical Belgian suburban neighbourhood. Research tools are numerical simulations tools and dynamic thermal modelling software. The results of this exercise show that it is theoretically (land property is not take into account in our analyses) possible to increase built density in existing suburban neighbourhoods. Energy savings are significant while solar energy received by facades and roofs remain huge. Insulation is a critically important factor. Moreover, increasing the built density in existing neighbourhoods allows to preserve unbuilt areas and to limit the need for new infrastructures and networks, which should help suburban areas to become more sustainable