An investigation into the fertilizer potential of slaughterhouse cattle paunch

In Australia, the red meat processing industry actively seeks approaches to improve the management of solid waste from processing operations and enhance the environmental performance. Recycling of paunch waste to farmland could be a cost-effective and practicable environmental option. However, little is known about the agronomic value of fresh and composted paunch, and the associated requirements for land application. Therefore, a short-term experimental work was undertaken to assess potential risks due to weed seed contamination and determine the agronomic response of ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) to soil incorporation of paunch. The risk of weed contamination from soil application of paunch appeared to be low; however, methods that account for viability of seeds may be required to fully discard such a risk. Soil application of paunch at field equivalent rates of 150-300 kg ha-1 of N increased dry matter yield by ≈30% on average compared with untreated grass, but was approximately 35% lower than a mineral fertilizer treatment applied at the same rates. Dry matter yield of paunch-treated grass was between 2000 and 3000 kg per ha over four consecutive cuts at 25-day intervals. Nitrogen use-efficiency of paunch was approximately 10% (range: 3% to 20%, depending on paunch type), and total N in harvested plant material showed values, which were between 2% and 3%. Overall, there appears to be potential for paunch-derived products to be used as a source of carbon and nutrients in crop production. Areas that merit a research priority within this space are also outlined in this paper. Such work is required to inform soil-, climate- and crop-specific land application rates, optimize agronomic performance, and minimize environmental concerns. There is also a requirement for the value proposition to industry to be determined, including reduced cost of disposal of material via gate fees and fertilizer replacement value

Integrating Geodesign and game experiments for negotiating urban development

In this article we explore an expansion of geodesign to analyze processes of competition and cooperation by combining it with game-theoretical modelling and experiments. We test the applicability of facilitating these two fields in an integrated workshop by analysing the case study of oversupply of development sites in the Liemers corridor. Two workshops were held, with representatives of the six municipalities involved and with the regional and provincial authority, in which participants negotiated over the distribution of the supply of development sites. The workshops were performed around an interactive MapTable, with spatial information (from GIS) and financial information (from the game-theoretical model) being visualized in real-time. The integrated workshops were assessed to discover differences in terms of process and outcomes, and they examine whether and how learning takes place. We conclude that the combination of game theory and geodesign provides added value for planning support by facilitating a realistic discussion, and negotiation that is strongly connected to real-life locations, and by aiming at designing a common, collaborative solution. Through the integrated workshop learning about the problem of oversupply in financial and geographical terms and also about each other’s motives and behaviour is stimulated

Association between postoperative muscle wasting and survival in older patients undergoing surgery for non-metastatic colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND: Preoperative sarcopenia in older patients is a risk factor for adverse outcomes after colorectal cancer (CRC) surgery. Longitudinal changes in muscle mass in this group have not been studied previously although muscle wasting may have prognostic significance regarding survival. We aimed to determine the association between muscle wasting and overall survival (OS) in older patients who underwent surgery for CRC.METHODS: Patients ≥70 years who underwent surgery for non-metastatic CRC in Gelre hospitals, The Netherlands, between 2011 and 2015 were included. Cross-sectional area of skeletal muscle was measured at the level of the 3rd lumbar vertebra on preoperative and postoperative abdominal CT-scans. Patients who had &gt;1 standard deviation decrease in muscle mass were considered to have muscle wasting. Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate associations between muscle wasting and OS.RESULTS: 233 patients were included (40% female, median age 76 years). Thirty-four patients had muscle wasting. After a median follow-up of 4.7 years, 53 (23%) patients died. The 3-year mortality rate was higher in patients with muscle wasting (27% vs 14%, p = .05). In multivariable analysis adjusted for age, recurrent disease and preoperative muscle mass, muscle wasting was associated with reduced OS (HR 2.8, 95% CI 1.5-5.4, p = .002).CONCLUSION: Muscle wasting predicted poorer survival in older patients who underwent CRC surgery. Measuring changes in muscle mass may improve risk prediction in this patient group. Future studies should address the etiology of muscle wasting in older patients with CRC. Whether perioperative exercise interventions can prevent muscle wasting also warrants further study.</p

Towards a rational design of faecal transplant analogues

Faecal transplants (microbiota transfer) have shown to be promising therapies having a wide range of therapeutic applications. However, current safety considerations hamper further valorisation. As such, well designed faecal transplant analogues provide an interesting alternative to minimize possible safety aspects. However, to date little knowledge on how to rationally design such analogues exists. Here, we show by applying first order basic graph theory that such analogues dedicated to restoring a specific physiological functionality (a microbial guild) should consist of 5–6 species to maximize stability, efficiency, and minimize safety issues and production costs

Enabling analytics on sensitive medical data with secure multi-party computation

While there is a clear need to apply data analytics in the healthcare sector, this is often difficult because it requires combining sensitive data from multiple data sources. In this paper, we show how the cryptographic technique of secure multiparty computation can enable such data analytics by performing analytics without the need to share the underlying data. We discuss the issue of compliance to European privacy legislation; report on three pilots bringing these techniques closer to practice; and discuss the main challenges ahead to make fully privacy-preserving data analytics in the medical sector commonplace