Recent developments in fast spectroscopy for plant mineral analysis

Ideal fertilizer management to optimize plant productivity and quality is more relevant than ever, as global food demands increase along with the rapidly growing world population. At the same time, sub-optimal or excessive use of fertilizers leads to severe environmental damage in areas of intensive crop production. The approaches of soil and plant mineral analysis are briefly compared and discussed here, and the new techniques using fast spectroscopy that offer cheap, rapid, and easy-to-use analysis of plant nutritional status are reviewed. The majority of these methods use vibrational spectroscopy, such as visual-near infrared and to a lesser extent ultraviolet and mid-infrared spectroscopy. Advantages of and problems with application of these techniques are thoroughly discussed. Spectroscopic techniques considered having major potential for plant mineral analysis, such as chlorophyll a fluorescence, X-ray fluorescence, and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy are also described

Changes in employment status, barriers to, and facilitators of (return to) work in breast cancer survivors 5-10 years after diagnosis

Purpose: To qualitatively investigate changes in employment status, barriers to and facilitators of (return to) work in breast cancer survivors 5-10 years after diagnosis. Materials and methods: Women were eligible to participate in the focus groups if they were younger than 55 years and were employed at time of diagnosis. Data were analysed by two independent researchers using thematic content analysis. Results: Nineteen women participated in three semi-structured focus groups, of whom 18 reported a change in employment status 5-10 years after diagnosis. Perceived barriers to (return to) work shortly after breast cancer diagnosis tended to be disease- and treatment-related, while 5-10 years later, they were personal- and work-related. Participants recommended open communication and support at the workplace, and comprehensive information from (occupational) health care professionals to facilitate dealing with breast cancer at work. Conclusions: Breast cancer survivors still experience changes in employment status 5-10 years after diagnosis. (Occupational) health care professionals should be alert that perceived barriers for returning to work change over time. Future research should focus on increasing awareness (at work) of breast cancer survivors' needs, providing adequate information and support to all involved, and developing interventions to sustain survivors' work ability at the long term.</p

Green house gas (GHG) emissions from Danish bioethanol production and choice of biomass raw materials

It is very much debated whether bioethanol is a sustainable energy resource that can offer environmental and long-term economic advantages over fossil fuels, like gasoline or die-sel. From the present first generation bioethanol technology focusing on starch (from grain) fermentation GHG savings are only modest. The Danish Integrated Biomass Utili-sation System (IBUS) has developed both first generation and second generation princi-pal bioethanol technologies characterised by integration with an existing coal-fired Com-bined Heat and Power (CBH) plant. To secure that bioenergy is produced from local adapted raw materials with limited use of non-renewable fossil fuels there is a need for integrating the biomass starting point into the energy manufacturing steps. Substitution of fossil fuels by crop biomass requires the right selection of plant species according not only to chemical quality for efficient con-version but also to secure the development of ecologically benign farming system includ-ing biomass for energy. The aim of the present study was to question how to optimise GHG savings for bioetha-nol production using the IBUS technology