Organic vs Conventional Suckling Lamb Production: Product Quality and Consumer Acceptance

Samples of suckling lambs (n=40) of two breeds reared under conventional and organic conditions were analysed to asses physico-chemical characteristics, including instrumental texture, and nutritional quality in terms of fatty acid composition. Consumer acceptance was also studied using the home-use test. Results revealed that organic suckling lamb meat is healthier as shown by the lower saturated fatty acid levels, the higher polyunsaturated fatty acid contents and the higher 6/3 ratiko. The organic meat had lower instrumental hardness, received higher scores in all sensory parameters, and had statistically better fat sensation and higher ratings for overall liking. These results lend support to the notion among consumers that organic products are healthier and tastier

Consumer Appreciation of Carcass Quality of Organic vs Conventional Suckling Lamb Production

Carcass characteristics of sucking lambs (n= 40) of two breeds reared under conventional and organic conditions were analysed including objective and subjective parameters for fatness and conformation, meat and fat colour. Consumer acceptance was also studied using the home-use test. Results showed that the characteristics of the carcass of suckling lamb were similar for both types of production systems pointing out that organic production system did not affect fatness or muscle development. However, organic meat was darker (higher L* and a* values) probably related with the higher amount of exercise, although fat was not more yellow. In contrast consumers did not consider organic meat darker and there were not significant differences in appearance related with the similar conformation. These results reflect that consumer perceive organic meat as at least as good as conventional production not only regarding environmental quality but also regarding carcass quality

Willingness of Online Panelists to Perform Additional Tasks

People’s willingness to share data with researchers is the fundamental raw material for most social science research. So far, survey researchers have mainly asked respondents to share data in the form of answers to survey questions but there is a growing interest in using alternative sources of data. Less is known about people’s willingness to share these other kinds of data. In this study, we aim to: 1) provide information about the willingness of people to share different types of data; 2) explore the reasons for their acceptance or refusal, and 3) try to determine which variables affect the willingness to perform these additional tasks. We use data from a survey implemented in 2016 in Spain, in which around 1,400 panelists of the Netquest online access panel were asked about their hypothetical willingness to share different types of data: passive measurement on devices they already use; wearing special devices to passively monitor activity; providing them with measurement devices and then having them self-report the results; providing physical specimens or bodily fluids (e.g. saliva); others. Open questions were used to follow up on the reasons for acceptance or refusal in the case of the use of a tracker. Our results suggest that the acceptance level is quite low in general, but there are large differences across tasks and respondents. The main reasons justifying both acceptance and refusal are related to privacy, security and trust. Our regression models also suggest that we can identify factors associated with such willingness

A SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF ORGANIC VERSUS CONVENTIONAL SYSTEMS OF SHEEP-FARMING

In the Mediterranean Agriculture, the organic production constitutes a real possibility for sustainable development, it can keep a population in these areas and provide it with a decent work. This paper try to establish differences between conventional and organic systems of production, so that observation of these differences would lead to conclusions relating to the level of efficiency of one system as against the other. To achieve this objective, the research team analyzed the evolution of seventeen milk sheep farms in various places in the Castilla y León Region for a whole year. The study consisted in the modeling of the results of a Cobb-Douglas production function. The findings reveal that organic farms have higher production levels with the same combination of inputs. This result is a guarantee of future for this type of production and guarantee of feasibility for these areas

The impact of lake and reservoir parameterization on global streamflow simulation

Lakes and reservoirs affect the timing and magnitude of streamflow, and are therefore essential hydrological model components, especially in the context of global flood forecasting. However, the parameterization of lake and reservoir routines on a global scale is subject to considerable uncertainty due to lack of information on lake hydrographic characteristics and reservoir operating rules. In this study we estimated the effect of lakes and reservoirs on global daily streamflow simulations of a spatially-distributed LISFLOOD hydrological model. We applied state-of-the-art global sensitivity and uncertainty analyses for selected catchments to examine the effect of uncertain lake and reservoir parameterization on model performance. Streamflow observations from 390 catchments around the globe and multiple performance measures were used to assess model performance. Results indicate a considerable geographical variability in the lake and reservoir effects on the streamflow simulation. Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) and Kling-Gupta Efficiency (KGE) metrics improved for 65% and 38% of catchments respectively, with median skill score values of 0.16 and 0.2 while scores deteriorated for 28% and 52% of the catchments, with median values - 0.09 and -0.16, respectively. The effect of reservoirs on extreme high flows was substantial and widespread in the global domain, while the effect of lakes was spatially limited to a few catchments. As indicated by global sensitivity analysis, parameter uncertainty substantially affected uncertainty of model performance. Reservoir parameters often contributed to this uncertainty, although the effect varied widely among catchments. The effect of reservoir parameters on model performance diminished with distance downstream of reservoirs in favor of other parameters, notably groundwater-related parameters and channel Manning’s roughness coefficient. This study underscores the importance of accounting for lakes and, especially, reservoirs and using appropriate parameterization in large-scale hydrological simulations

QUALITY OF LIFE AND QUALITY OF WORK LIFE IN ORGANIC VERSUS CONVENTIONAL FARMERS

Sustainability is a concept developed from economic, ecological and social strategies in the decision-making process. Quality of life and quality of work life are two indicators very related to the viability and sustainability of farms. They are located into the social sustainability but in some cases the production system affects all three aspects of sustainability and transcends into a lifestyle. Organic production in several small ruminant farms analyzed in Spain provides quality of life and quality of work significantly better than conventional ones

Human-Related Factors Regulate the Spatial Ecology of Domestic Cats in Sensitive Areas for Conservation

Background: Domestic cats ranging freely in natural areas are a conservation concern due to competition, predation, disease transmission or hybridization with wildcats. In order to improve our ability to design effective control policies, we investigate the factors affecting their numbers and space use in natural areas of continental Europe. Methodology/Principal Findings: We describe the patterns of cat presence, abundance and space use and analyse the associated environmental and human constraints in a well-preserved Mediterranean natural area with small scattered local farms. We failed in detecting cats in areas away from human settlements (trapping effort above 4000 trap-nights), while we captured 30 individuals near inhabited farms. We identified 130 cats, all of them in farms still in use by people (30% of 128 farms). All cats were free-ranging and very wary of people. The main factor explaining the presence of cats was the presence of people, while the number of cats per farm was mostly affected by the occasional food provisioning with human refuse and the presence of people. The home ranges of eight radio tagged cats were centred at inhabited farms. Males went furthest away from the farms during the mating season (3.8 km on average, maximum 6.3 km), using inhabited farms as stepping-stones in their mating displacements (2.2 km of maximum inter-farm distance moved). In their daily movements, cats notably avoided entering in areas with high fox density. Conclusions: The presence, abundance and space use of cats were heavily dependent on human settlements. Any strategy aiming at reducing their impact in areas of conservation concern should aim at the presence of settlements and their spatial spread and avoid any access to human refuse. The movements of domestic cats would be limited in areas with large patches of natural vegetation providing good conditions for other carnivore mammals such as red foxes.Peer reviewe

High-degree atrioventricular block. An unusual presentation of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy: a case report

Background: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a non-ischemic cardiomyopathy characterized by acute left ventricular systolic dysfunction with transient wall motion abnormalities without a culprit coronary stenosis or other concurrent diagnoses. Its coexistence with transient high-degree AV block is very infrequent. Case presentation: A 61-year-old man presented with a new onset of high degree AV block without ST segment deviations developing an anterior and apical dyskinesia with a low left ventricular ejection fraction in the absence of coronary artery disease. Conclusion: Atrioventricular block is an uncommon presentation of Takotsubo syndrome. The management of patients with relevant conduction disorders in this scenario is a challenge for the clinician. In case of persistence of advanced conduction disorders, it seems appropriate to implant a pacemaker