Naar een klimaatneutrale bedrijfsvoering: hoe doe je dat?

De huidige landbouw draagt bij aan het broeikaseffect en daarmee aan de klimaatverandering. Tegelijk heeft de landbouw goede mogelijkheden om tot vermindering van broeikasgasemissies te komen. Zestien agrariërs nemen daarvoor het voortouw in het project BoerenKlimaat.nl. Samen met Wageningen UR en het Louis Bolk Instituut werken zij aan een klimaatneutrale bedrijfsvoering door mogelijkheden in de praktijk te benutten en te optimaliseren. Dit BioKennisbericht belicht deze kansen en reikt de varkenshouder, akkerbouwer en pluimveehouder suggesties aan om het eigen bedrijf verder te verduurzamen

Actualisering van geschatte N en P excreties door rundvee

Het Europese Hof heeft bepaald dat het huidige Nederlandse Mestbeleid niet aan EU eisen voldoet. Het huidige mineralenaangiftesysteem (MINAS) moet worden vervangen door een systeem van normen voor de aanwending van stikstof (N) en fosfaat (P2O5) op landbouwgrond (gebruiksnormen). Deze aanpassing en voortschrijdende inzichten waren aanleiding om de geschatte gemiddelde excreties door landbouwhuisdieren van N en P2O5 te actualiseren. Dit rapport beschrijft de excreties van N en P2O5 door rundvee in 2006 en 2008. De verwachte ontwikkelingen in de melkveehouderij leiden tot lagere gehaltes aan N in ruwvoeders, een verregaande verhoging van de melkproductie per koe met gelijk blijvende gehaltes aan vet en eiwit, en tot een vermindering van het aandeel jongvee. Het netto-effect is een hogere gemiddelde excretie van N en P2O5 in 2006 en 2008 vergeleken met het referentiejaar 2003

Klimaatneutraal in de praktijk : ervaringen en resultaten van de deelnemers van BoerenKlimaat.nl

De huidige landbouw draagt bij aan het broeikaseffect en daarmee aan de klimaatverandering. Tegelijk heeft de landbouw goede mogelijkheden om de broeikasgasemissies te verminderen. Zestien agrariërs laten in het project BoerenKlimaat.nl samen met Wageningen UR en het Louis Bolk Instituut zien hoe dat kan. De ondernemers zijn akkerbouwer, varkens- of pluimveehouder. In deze brochure verhalen ze over hun ervaringen

HAPEX-Sahel : a large-scale study of land-atmosphere interactions in the semi-arid tropics

The Hydrologic Atmospheric Pilot EXperiment in the Sahel (HAPEX-Sahel) was carried out in Niger, West Africa, during 1991 - 1992, with an intensive observation period (IOP) in August - October 1992. It aims at improving the parameterization of land surface atmosphere interactions at the Global Circulation Model (GCM) gridbox scale. The experiment combines remote sensing and ground based measurements with hydrological and meteorological modelling to develop aggregation techniques for use in large scale estimates of the hydrological and meteorological behaviour of large areas in the Sahel. The experimental strategy consisted of a period of intensive measurements during the transition period of the rainy to the dry season, backed up by a series of long term measurements in a 1° by 1° square in Niger. Three "supersites" were instrumented with a variety of hydrological and (micro) meteorological equipment to provide detailed information on the surface energy exchange at the local scale. Boundary layer measurements and aircraft measurements were used to provide information at scales of 100 - 500 km2. All relevant remote sensing images were obtained for this period. This programme of measurements is now being analyzed and an extensive modelling programme is under way to aggregate the information at all scales up to the GCM grid box scale. The experimental strategy and some preliminary results of the IOP are described

Duration of fever and serious bacterial infections in children: a systematic review

Background: Parents of febrile children frequently contact primary care. Longer duration of fever has been related to increased risk for serious bacterial infections (SBI). However, the evidence for this association remains controversial. We assessed the predictive value of duration of fever for SBI. Methods: Studies from MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane databases (from January 1991 to December 2009) were retrieved. We included studies describing children aged 2 months to 6 years in countries with high Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccination coverage. Duration of fever had to be studied as a predictor for serious bacterial infections. Results: Seven studies assessed the association between duration of fever and serious bacterial infections; three of these found a relationship. Conclusion: The predictive value of duration of fever for identifying serious bacterial infections in children remains inconclusive. None of these seven studies was performed in primary care. Studies evaluating the duration of fever and its predictive value in children in primary care are required

Detection of Human Bocavirus mRNA in Respiratory Secretions Correlates with High Viral Load and Concurrent Diarrhea

Human bocavirus (HBoV) is a parvovirus recently identified in association with acute respiratory infections (ARI). Despite its worldwide occurrence, little is known on the pathogenesis of HBoV infections. In addition, few systematic studies of HBoV in ARI have been conducted in Latin America. Therefore, in order to test whether active viral replication of human bocavirus is associated with respiratory diseases and to understand the clinical impact of this virus in patients with these diseases, we performed a 3-year retrospective hospital-based study of HBoV in outpatients and inpatients with symptoms of Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) in Brazil. Nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPAs) from 1015 patients with respiratory symptoms were tested for HBoV DNA by PCR. All samples positive for HBoV were tested by PCR for all other respiratory viruses, had HBoV viral loads determined by quantitative real time PCR and, when possible, were tested by RT-PCR for HBoV VP1 mRNA, as evidence of active viral replication. HBoV was detected in 4.8% of patients, with annual rates of 10.0%, 3.0% and 3.0% in 2005, 2006 and 2007, respectively. The range of respiratory symptoms was similar between HBoV-positive and HBoV-negative ARI patients. However, a higher rate of diarrhea was observed in HBoV-positive patients. High HBoV viral loads (>108 copies/mL) and diarrhea were significantly more frequent in patients with exclusive infection by HBoV and in patients with detection of HBoV VP1 mRNA than in patients with viral co-infection, detected in 72.9% of patients with HBoV. In summary, our data demonstrated that active HBoV replication was detected in a small percentage of patients with ARI and was correlated with concurrent diarrhea and lack of other viral co-infections

Preface paper to the Semi-Arid Land-Surface-Atmosphere (SALSA) Program special issue

The Semi-Arid Land-Surface-Atmosphere Program (SALSA) is a multi-agency, multi-national research effort that seeks to evaluate the consequences of natural and human-induced environmental change in semi-arid regions. The ultimate goal of SALSA is to advance scientific understanding of the semi-arid portion of the hydrosphere–biosphere interface in order to provide reliable information for environmental decision making. SALSA approaches this goal through a program of long-term, integrated observations, process research, modeling, assessment, and information management that is sustained by cooperation among scientists and information users. In this preface to the SALSA special issue, general program background information and the critical nature of semi-arid regions is presented. A brief description of the Upper San Pedro River Basin, the initial location for focused SALSA research follows. Several overarching research objectives under which much of the interdisciplinary research contained in the special issue was undertaken are discussed. Principal methods, primary research sites and data collection used by numerous investigators during 1997–1999 are then presented. Scientists from about 20 US, five European (four French and one Dutch), and three Mexican agencies and institutions have collaborated closely to make the research leading to this special issue a reality. The SALSA Program has served as a model of interagency cooperation by breaking new ground in the approach to large scale interdisciplinary science with relatively limited resources