320 research outputs found

    Contribution of High Nature Value farming systems to sustainable livestock production : A case from Finland

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    Sustainability of livestock production is a highly contested issue in agricultural sustainability discourse. This study aimed to assess the environmental impact of farms using semi-natural grasslands in Finland, or so-called High Nature Value (HNV) farms. We estimated the environmental impact of 11 such farms, including greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), nitrogen (N) balance, land occupation, and carbon storage. We also accounted for unique biodiversity, defined in this study as communities that are dependent on semi-natural grasslands. We compared these to the alternative states of the farms, specifically a hypothetical farm with the same production output but without access to semi natural grasslands. GHG emissions at the farm level (tCO(2eq)/ha) in HNV farms were 64% lower than on the alternative farms; GHG emissions at the product level (tCO(2eq)/t LW) and N balance (N kg/ha) were 31% and 235% lower, respectively. The carbon stocks were 163% higher at farm level. Biodiversity values, indicated by the share of semi-natural grassland in management, ranged from 23% to 83% on HNV farms. Six out of eleven farms would need to increase their arable land occupation by an average of 39% of arable land to fulfil their needs for animal feed if they did not utilize semi-natural grassland. This study contributes to growing evidence that HNV farming systems can support sustainable production by minimising arable land occupation, reducing nutrient loses, and increasing carbon storage while maintaining unique biodiversity.Peer reviewe

    Holistic environmental assessment of High Nature Value farming systems in Europe

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    Many life cycle assessment (LCA) studies comparing environmental impacts of different beef production systems are incomplete as they exclude biodiversity impacts and soil carbon stock changes. This study aims to assess the environmental impact of ruminant production on semi-natural grasslands or so-called high nature value (HNV) farms at the European level. We collected data for 24 HNV farms in Europe (in Finland, Estonia and France). The studied farms are extensive beef, sheep and goat production systems. We used LCA to assess the potential environmental impact of HNV farms according to global warming potential (GWP100), eutrophication, fossil fuels and water use, by using the Solagro carbon calculator and OpenLCA software. Results showed that HNV farming systems have the potential to maintain unique biodiversity, act as carbon sinks, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce nutrient losses and water use while producing animal-derived food. There were significant differences between HNV farms among countries in their greenhouse gas emissions at the farm level (tCO2eq ha-1) and N inputs (kg N ha-1). Better regional understanding of the environmental impact performance of HNV farming systems in relation to sustainable ruminant production will be achieved as the undergoing study progresses.Peer reviewe

    Evaluating Person-Centred Integrated Care to People with Complex Chronic Conditions: Early Implementation Results of the ProPCC Programme

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    Introduction: The evaluation of integrated care programmes for high-need high-cost older people is a challenge. We aim to share the early implementation results of the ProPCC programme in the North-Barcelona metropolitan area, in Catalonia, Spain. Methods: We analysed the intervention with retrospective data from May 2018 to December 2021 by describing the cohort complexity and by showing its 6-months pre-post impact on time spent at home and resources used: primary care visits, emergency department visits, hospital admissions and hospital stay. Findings: 264 cases were included (91% at home; 9% in nursing homes). 6-month pre vs. 6-months post results were (mean, p-value): primary care visits 8.2 vs. 11.5 (p < 0.05); emergency department visits 1.4 vs. 0.9 (p < 0.05); hospital admissions 0.7 vs. 0.5 (p < 0.05); hospital stay 12.8 vs. 7.9 days (p < 0.05). Time spent at home was 169.2 vs.174.2 days (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Early implementation of the ProPCC programme results in an increase in time spent at home (up to 3%) and significant reductions in emergency department attendance (–37.2%) and hospital stays (–38.3%). The increased use of primary care resources is compensated by the hospital resources savings, with a result in the average total cost of –46.3%

    The evolution of the ventilatory ratio is a prognostic factor in mechanically ventilated COVID-19 ARDS patients

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    Background: Mortality due to COVID-19 is high, especially in patients requiring mechanical ventilation. The purpose of the study is to investigate associations between mortality and variables measured during the first three days of mechanical ventilation in patients with COVID-19 intubated at ICU admission. Methods: Multicenter, observational, cohort study includes consecutive patients with COVID-19 admitted to 44 Spanish ICUs between February 25 and July 31, 2020, who required intubation at ICU admission and mechanical ventilation for more than three days. We collected demographic and clinical data prior to admission; information about clinical evolution at days 1 and 3 of mechanical ventilation; and outcomes. Results: Of the 2,095 patients with COVID-19 admitted to the ICU, 1,118 (53.3%) were intubated at day 1 and remained under mechanical ventilation at day three. From days 1 to 3, PaO2/FiO2 increased from 115.6 [80.0-171.2] to 180.0 [135.4-227.9] mmHg and the ventilatory ratio from 1.73 [1.33-2.25] to 1.96 [1.61-2.40]. In-hospital mortality was 38.7%. A higher increase between ICU admission and day 3 in the ventilatory ratio (OR 1.04 [CI 1.01-1.07], p = 0.030) and creatinine levels (OR 1.05 [CI 1.01-1.09], p = 0.005) and a lower increase in platelet counts (OR 0.96 [CI 0.93-1.00], p = 0.037) were independently associated with a higher risk of death. No association between mortality and the PaO2/FiO2 variation was observed (OR 0.99 [CI 0.95 to 1.02], p = 0.47). Conclusions: Higher ventilatory ratio and its increase at day 3 is associated with mortality in patients with COVID-19 receiving mechanical ventilation at ICU admission. No association was found in the PaO2/FiO2 variation

    Study of the BΛc+ΛˉcKB^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-} decay

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    The decay BΛc+ΛˉcKB^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-} is studied in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of s=13\sqrt{s}=13 TeV using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 fb1\mathrm{fb}^{-1} collected by the LHCb experiment. In the Λc+K\Lambda_{c}^+ K^{-} system, the Ξc(2930)0\Xi_{c}(2930)^{0} state observed at the BaBar and Belle experiments is resolved into two narrower states, Ξc(2923)0\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0} and Ξc(2939)0\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}, whose masses and widths are measured to be m(Ξc(2923)0)=2924.5±0.4±1.1MeV,m(Ξc(2939)0)=2938.5±0.9±2.3MeV,Γ(Ξc(2923)0)=0004.8±0.9±1.5MeV,Γ(Ξc(2939)0)=0011.0±1.9±7.5MeV, m(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = 2924.5 \pm 0.4 \pm 1.1 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ m(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = 2938.5 \pm 0.9 \pm 2.3 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = \phantom{000}4.8 \pm 0.9 \pm 1.5 \,\mathrm{MeV},\\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = \phantom{00}11.0 \pm 1.9 \pm 7.5 \,\mathrm{MeV}, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The results are consistent with a previous LHCb measurement using a prompt Λc+K\Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-} sample. Evidence of a new Ξc(2880)0\Xi_{c}(2880)^{0} state is found with a local significance of 3.8σ3.8\,\sigma, whose mass and width are measured to be 2881.8±3.1±8.5MeV2881.8 \pm 3.1 \pm 8.5\,\mathrm{MeV} and 12.4±5.3±5.8MeV12.4 \pm 5.3 \pm 5.8 \,\mathrm{MeV}, respectively. In addition, evidence of a new decay mode Ξc(2790)0Λc+K\Xi_{c}(2790)^{0} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-} is found with a significance of 3.7σ3.7\,\sigma. The relative branching fraction of BΛc+ΛˉcKB^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-} with respect to the BD+DKB^{-} \to D^{+} D^{-} K^{-} decay is measured to be 2.36±0.11±0.22±0.252.36 \pm 0.11 \pm 0.22 \pm 0.25, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third originates from the branching fractions of charm hadron decays.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-028.html (LHCb public pages

    Measurement of the ratios of branching fractions R(D)\mathcal{R}(D^{*}) and R(D0)\mathcal{R}(D^{0})

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    The ratios of branching fractions R(D)B(BˉDτνˉτ)/B(BˉDμνˉμ)\mathcal{R}(D^{*})\equiv\mathcal{B}(\bar{B}\to D^{*}\tau^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\tau})/\mathcal{B}(\bar{B}\to D^{*}\mu^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\mu}) and R(D0)B(BD0τνˉτ)/B(BD0μνˉμ)\mathcal{R}(D^{0})\equiv\mathcal{B}(B^{-}\to D^{0}\tau^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\tau})/\mathcal{B}(B^{-}\to D^{0}\mu^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\mu}) are measured, assuming isospin symmetry, using a sample of proton-proton collision data corresponding to 3.0 fb1{ }^{-1} of integrated luminosity recorded by the LHCb experiment during 2011 and 2012. The tau lepton is identified in the decay mode τμντνˉμ\tau^{-}\to\mu^{-}\nu_{\tau}\bar{\nu}_{\mu}. The measured values are R(D)=0.281±0.018±0.024\mathcal{R}(D^{*})=0.281\pm0.018\pm0.024 and R(D0)=0.441±0.060±0.066\mathcal{R}(D^{0})=0.441\pm0.060\pm0.066, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The correlation between these measurements is ρ=0.43\rho=-0.43. Results are consistent with the current average of these quantities and are at a combined 1.9 standard deviations from the predictions based on lepton flavor universality in the Standard Model.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-039.html (LHCb public pages

    Tools for the internationalization of educational material in the University: the case of micro-videos on biodiversity at the UCM

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    Este proyecto inicia la universalización de material educativo audiovisual a partir de ofertar micro-videos en ingles sobre la biodiversidad dirigidos a los diferentes componentes de la comunidad educativa internacional.This project initiates the universalization of audiovisual educational material from offering micro-videos in English on biodiversity aimed at the different components of the international educational community.Depto. de Biodiversidad, Ecología y EvoluciónFac. de Ciencias BiológicasFALSEsubmitte
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