| 1. |
- Alakukku, Laura, et al.
(author)
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Maatalouden ympäristötuen vaikuttavuuden seurantatutkimus (MYTVAS 3) : loppuraportti
- 2014
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Since 1995, agri-environmental support partly funded by the EU has formed the core of Finland’s agri-environmental policy. This system has had a variety of impacts on the relationship between agriculture and the environment. Today’s agri-environmental support is one of the packages included in the Rural Development Programme for Mainland Finland (2007–2013/2014), which both in itself and through the underlying EU legislation requires monitoring of the impacts of the measures implemented. The study monitoring the impact of the 2nd Finnish agri-environmental scheme (MYTVAS 3), which ran from 2008 to 2013, forms part of this monitoring. The MYTVAS 3 monitoring study was also financed by the Ministry of the Environment. The monitoring study was carried out by a consortium coordinated by MTT Agrifood Research Finland and including the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), the University of Helsinki, the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute and the University of Turku.The purpose of the MYTVAS 3 monitoring study was to find out how agri-environmental support and its various measures have affected the state of the environment in agricultural areas, how agri-environmental support has affected the potential for farming and how agri-environmental support should be developed to increase its impact. The monitoring focused on the impacts of agri-environmental support on the nutrient load from agriculture on the waterways and on biodiversity. When evaluating the findings presented, we should remember that while monitoring data shows that something happened, it does not necessarily explain what caused it. It is not always possible to show that particular developments were a specific outcome of the current agri-environmental support system and the implementation of its measures. The delay between a measure and its observed impact is often long, and the cause-and-effect relationships are complicated and partly unknown. Also, other agricultural policy and fluctuations on the market may affect the state of the agricultural environment directly or indirectly.The monitoring data show that agri-environmental support has not had a detrimental impact on the potential for farming. Despite a slight increase in the incidence of weeds, they do not cause problems of the kind that would require amendments to the content of agri-environmental measures. Carbon levels in the surface stratum of arable land seems to be continuing their slow decline, and there is still need for measures to preserve organic material in the soil.Compliance with the fertilisation limits in the agri-environmental support system would seem to have had very little impact on crop quality. Variations in the weight and protein content per hectolitre and per 1,000 seeds were of the same order between 2006 and 2012 as they were between 1995 and 2005. Crop quantities have also not been noticeably affected by compliance with the fertilisation limits. Average crop yields remained stable between 1986 and 2013, and no clearly different crop years were observed in the 2000s. It is possible, however, that the lower fertilisation levels could have lowered crop potential in the years with advantageous weather conditions in the 2000s and that protein contents have been lower in advantageous years.The monitoring data also show that the nutrient load potential of agriculture, measured by nutrient balances, has decreased continuously for nitrogen and particularly for phosphorus. The decrease in the nutrient load potential is due above all to a decrease in the use of synthetic fertilisers. The decline in nitrogen fertilisation has bottomed out in recent years, and low protein levels measured in high crop yield years show that there is no point in further reducing nitrogen fertilisation. Optimising nitrogen fertilisation according to how advantageous the growing season is and effectively using the soluble nitrogen in cattle manure are key measures in achieving reasonable nitrogen balances and good crop quality despite fluctuations in growing season conditions. New crop variants have been found to make more efficient use of nitrogen than old ones, and thus the introduction of new variants should be promoted. Despite the decrease in the nutrient balances, there are indications that nutrient loads in runoff water from domestic animal production sites are becoming an increasing problem. Indeed, the fundamental problem with the nutrient load from agriculture is the diversification of livestock farming and crop farming, which has made it more difficult to use nutrients appropriately. Therefore attention must be paid to measures that both boost the use of nutrients in manure and reduce the levels of nutrients that end up in manure. Based on nutrient load monitoring in the catchment areas of rivers, the phosphorus load per hectare of cropland has decreased in each programme period, being about 80% of the level of the first period (1995–1999) in the third period (2007–2013). Because of the increase in the area of cropland, the nitrogen load on waterways from agriculture continued to grow during the second programme period (2000–2006) but peaked in the third (2007–2013). A similar trend was found in the nitrogen load per hectare of cropland.The most important threat to biodiversity is caused by the development of landscape structure, typically involving a decrease in the number of open or half-open areas excluded from actual cultivation. The consequence of the clearing of margins and ecological islands located in crop fields, drainage measures aimed at increasing arable land and all rationalisation of cultivated areas is the diminishing of exactly those areas that are the most important from the perspective of the biodiversity of the agricultural environment. However, the measure-specific findings in the monitoring study show that biodiversity benefits have been locally achieved where measures have been implemented on a broad enough scale (biodynamic farming, traditional biotopes, wetlands, buffer zones, green fallow / nature management areas). Particular care should therefore be taken that all cultivated land continues to have a sufficient percentage of non-cultivated areas, whether they be natural meadows, nature management areas, biodiversity strips, buffer zones, filter strips, headlands, ecological islands, etc. Including the rather popular nature management areas as a new voluntary measure under basic measures was a significant contribution to biodiversity.Regarding the rural landscape, it may be noted that by visual inspection the area of cropland has remained largely unchanged, at the level of the landscape as a whole it is far more common for the landscape to become more closed than to become more open. This trend was also observed in the visual inspection of traditional biotopes, even if the openness of the meadows monitored largely remained unchanged.The only measures that directly address the reduction of gaseous emissions in the agri-environmental support system are the longterm grass cultivation on peat fields and special aid agreements for slurry injection in cropland. While other measures have indirectly affected gaseous emissions, the impact of agri-environmental support as a whole on reducing gaseous emissions from agriculture has been negligible. In general, we may conclude that the goals, content and support levels of agri-environmental support measures must be increasingly adapted and customised by region, by type of farming and by farm, because both the state of the agricultural environment and the needs of society differ greatly between different types of rural area.
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| 2. |
- Roslin, Tomas, et al.
(author)
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A molecular-based identification resource for the arthropods of Finland
- 2022
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In: Molecular Ecology Resources. - : Wiley. - 1755-098X .- 1755-0998. ; 22:2, s. 803-822
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To associate specimens identified by molecular characters to other biological knowledge, we need reference sequences annotated by Linnaean taxonomy. In this study, we (1) report the creation of a comprehensive reference library of DNA barcodes for the arthropods of an entire country (Finland), (2) publish this library, and (3) deliver a new identification tool for insects and spiders, as based on this resource. The reference library contains mtDNA COI barcodes for 11,275 (43%) of 26,437 arthropod species known from Finland, including 10,811 (45%) of 23,956 insect species. To quantify the improvement in identification accuracy enabled by the current reference library, we ran 1000 Finnish insect and spider species through the Barcode of Life Data system (BOLD) identification engine. Of these, 91% were correctly assigned to a unique species when compared to the new reference library alone, 85% were correctly identified when compared to BOLD with the new material included, and 75% with the new material excluded. To capitalize on this resource, we used the new reference material to train a probabilistic taxonomic assignment tool, FinPROTAX, scoring high success. For the full-length barcode region, the accuracy of taxonomic assignments at the level of classes, orders, families, subfamilies, tribes, genera, and species reached 99.9%, 99.9%, 99.8%, 99.7%, 99.4%, 96.8%, and 88.5%, respectively. The FinBOL arthropod reference library and FinPROTAX are available through the Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility (www.laji.fi) at https://laji.fi/en/theme/protax. Overall, the FinBOL investment represents a massive capacity-transfer from the taxonomic community of Finland to all sectors of society.
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| 3. |
- Bass, Gary Alan, 1979-, et al.
(author)
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Techniques for mesoappendix transection and appendix resection: insights from the ESTES SnapAppy study
- 2023
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In: European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1863-9933 .- 1615-3146 .- 1863-9941. ; 49, s. 17-32
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Introduction: Surgically managed appendicitis exhibits great heterogeneity in techniques for mesoappendix transection and appendix amputation from its base. It is unclear whether a particular surgical technique provides outcome benefit or reduces complications. Material and methods: We undertook a pre-specified subgroup analysis of all patients who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy at index admission during SnapAppy (ClinicalTrials.gov Registration: NCT04365491). We collected routine, anonymized observational data regarding surgical technique, patient demographics and indices of disease severity, without change to clinical care pathway or usual surgeon preference. Outcome measures of interest were the incidence of complications, unplanned reoperation, readmission, admission to the ICU, death, hospital length of stay, and procedure duration. We used Poisson regression models with robust standard errors to calculate incident rate ratios (IRRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: Three-thousand seven hundred sixty-eight consecutive adult patients, included from 71 centers in 14 countries, were followed up from date of admission for 90days. The mesoappendix was divided hemostatically using electrocautery in 1564(69.4%) and an energy device in 688(30.5%). The appendix was amputated by division of its base between looped ligatures in 1379(37.0%), with a stapler in 1421(38.1%) and between clips in 929(24.9%). The technique for securely dividing the appendix at its base in acutely inflamed (AAST Grade 1) appendicitis was equally divided between division between looped ligatures, clips and stapled transection. However, the technique used differed in complicated appendicitis (AAST Grade 2 +) compared with uncomplicated (Grade 1), with a shift toward transection of the appendix base by stapler (58% vs. 38%; p < 0.001). While no statistical difference in outcomes could be detected between different techniques for division of appendix base, decreased risk of any [adjusted IRR (95% CI): 0.58 (0.41–0.82), p = 0.002] and severe [adjusted IRR (95% CI): 0.33 (0.11–0.96), p = 0.045] complications could be detected when using energy devices. Conclusions: Safe mesoappendix transection and appendix resection are accomplished using heterogeneous techniques. Technique selection for both mesoappendix transection and appendix resection correlates with AAST grade. Higher grade led to more ultrasonic tissue transection and stapled appendix resection. Higher AAST appendicitis grade also correlated with infection-related complication occurrence. Despite the overall well-tolerated heterogeneity of approaches to acute appendicitis, increasing disease acuity or complexity appears to encourage homogeneity of intraoperative surgical technique toward advanced adjuncts.
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| 4. |
- Dalby, Lars, et al.
(author)
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The status of the Nordic populations of the Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) in a changing world
- 2013
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In: Ornis Fennica. - : University of Helsinki. - 0030-5685. ; 90:1, s. 2-15
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Dabbling ducks (Anas spp.) are important migratory quarry species, protected as a shared resource under international legislation. However, there is a lack of sufficient high-quality data on vital demographic rates and long-term trends in numbers to judge the conservation status of many duck populations at the flyway level. In response to reported declines in the North-West European flyway population of the Mallard, we compiled available data on this species in the Nordic countries up to 2010. Generally, national breeding numbers showed increasing trends, wintering abundance showed variable trends, and productivity measures indicated stable or increasing trends. Major knowledge gaps were identified, namely the size of hunting bags, the influence of the released Mallards and the role of short-stopping in explaining changing patterns of wintering abundance across the North-West European flyway. Numerically the Nordic breeding population appears in "good condition", and the wintering numbers have been either stable or increasing in the last two decades. The annual number of releases needs to be determined in order to judge the sustainability of the current levels of exploitation. Overall, none of the indicators showed alarming signs for the Mallard population in the Nordic countries when considered in isolation. However, the widespread decline in wintering numbers elsewhere across North-western Europe requires urgent pan-European action.
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| 5. |
- Ekstrand, Eva-Maria, 1985-
(author)
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Anaerobic digestion in the kraft pulp and paper industry : Challenges and possibilities for implementation
- 2019
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The pulp and paper industry is a large producer of wastewater and sludge, putting high pressure on waste treatment. In addition, more rigorous environmental legislation for pollution control and demands to increase the use of renewable energy have put further pressure on the pulp and paper industry’s waste treatment, where anaerobic digestion (AD) and the production of methane could pose a solution. Kraft pulping makes up 80% of the world production of virgin wood pulp, thus, the wastewaters from this sector represent a large unused potential for methane production.There are three main types of substrates available for AD at pulp and paper mills, the wastewaters, the primary sludge/fibre sludge, and the waste activated sludge. AD treatment of these streams has been associated with several challenges, such as the presence of inhibiting compounds or low degradability during AD. The aim of this thesis was to experimentally address these challenges and potentials, focusing on wastes from kraft mills.Methane potential batch tests showed that many wastewater streams still posed challenges to AD, but the alkaline elemental chlorine-free bleaching stream and the condensate effluents had good methane potentials. Further, the methane potential of kraft mill fibre sludge was high, and co-digestion of kraft mill fibre sludge and waste activated sludge was feasible in stirred tank reactors with sludge recirculation. By increasing the organic loading in a pilot-scale activated sludge facility and thereby lowering the sludge age, the degradability of the waste activated sludge was improved. The higher wastewater treatment capacity achieved by this method provides an opportunity for the mills to increase their pulp and paper production. Further, by dewatering the digestate after AD and returning the liquid to the activated sludge treatment, costs for nutrient supplementation can be reduced.In conclusion, the thesis shows that AD of wastes from the kraft pulp and paper industry was feasible and carried many benefits regarding the generation of methane as a renewable energy carrier, improved wastewater treatment and reduced costs. Different strategies on how AD may be implemented in the kraft pulp and paper industry were formulated and discussed.
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| 6. |
- Forssten, Maximilian Peter, 1996-, et al.
(author)
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Surgical management of acute appendicitis during the European COVID-19 second wave: safe and effective
- 2023
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In: European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1863-9933 .- 1615-3146 .- 1863-9941. ; 49, s. 57-67
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Introduction: The COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic drove acute care surgeons to pivot from long established practice patterns. Early safety concerns regarding increased postoperative complication risk in those with active COVID infection promoted antibiotic-driven non-operative therapy for select conditions ahead of an evidence-base. Our study assesses whether active or recent SARS-CoV-2 positivity increases hospital length of stay (LOS) or postoperative complications following appendectomy. Methods: Data were derived from the prospective multi-institutional observational SnapAppy cohort study. This preplanned data analysis assessed consecutive patients aged ≥ 15years who underwent appendectomy for appendicitis (November 2020–May 2021). Patients were categorized based on SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity: no infection, active infection, and prior infection. Appendectomy method, LOS, and complications were abstracted. The association between SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity and complications was determined using Poisson regression, while the association with LOS was calculated using a quantile regression model. Results: Appendectomy for acute appendicitis was performed in 4047 patients during the second and third European COVID waves. The majority were SARS-CoV-2 uninfected (3861, 95.4%), while 70 (1.7%) were acutely SARS-CoV-2 positive, and 116 (2.8%) reported prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. After confounder adjustment, there was no statistically significant association between SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity and LOS, any complication, or severe complications. Conclusion: During sequential SARS-CoV-2 infection waves, neither active nor prior SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with prolonged hospital LOS or postoperative complication. Despite early concerns regarding postoperative safety and outcome during active SARS-CoV-2 infection, no such association was noted for those with appendicitis who underwent operative management.
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| 7. |
- Guillemain, Matthieu, et al.
(author)
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Effects of climate change on European ducks : what do we know and what do we need to know?
- 2013
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In: Wildlife Biology. - : Nordic Council of Wildlife Research. - 0909-6396 .- 1903-220X. ; 19:4, s. 404-419
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The consequences of climate change for bird populations have received much attention in recent decades, especially amongst cavity-nesting songbirds, yet little has been written on ducks (Anatidae) despite these being major elements of wetland diversity and important quarry species. This paper reviews the major known consequences of climate change for birds in general, and relates these to the limited information available specifically for ducks. Climate change can influence migration distance and phenology, potentially affecting patterns of mortality, as well as distribution and reproductive success in ducks. Studies addressing effects of climate change are, however, restricted to very few duck species, including mallardAnas platyrhynchos and common eider Somateria mollissima. Shifts in winter duck distributions have been observed, whereas the mismatch hypothesis (mistiming between the periods of peak energy requirements for young and the peak of seasonal food availability) has received limited support with regard to ducks. We propose a range of monitoring initiatives, including population surveys, breeding success monitoring schemes and individual duck marking, which should later be integrated through population modelling and adaptive management to fill these gaps.
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| 8. |
- Guillemain, Matthieu, et al.
(author)
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Effects of climate change on European ducks: what do we know and what do we need to know?
- 2013
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In: Wildlife Biology. - : Wiley. - 0909-6396 .- 1903-220X. ; 19:4, s. 404-419
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The consequences of climate change for bird populations have received much attention in recent decades, especially amongst cavity-nesting songbirds, yet little has been written on ducks (Anatidae) despite these being major elements of wetland diversity and important quarry species. This paper reviews the major known consequences of climate change for birds in general, and relates these to the limited information available specifically for ducks. Climate change can influence migration distance and phenology, potentially affecting patterns of mortality, as well as distribution and reproductive success in ducks. Studies addressing effects of climate change are, however, restricted to very few duck species, including mallard Anas platyrhynchos and common eider Somateria mollissima. Shifts in winter duck distributions have been observed, whereas the mismatch hypothesis (mistiming between the periods of peak energy requirements for young and the peak of seasonal food availability) has received limited sup-port with regard to ducks. We propose a range of monitoring initiatives, including population surveys, breeding success monitoring schemes and individual duck marking, which should later be integrated through population modelling and adaptive management to fill these gaps.
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| 9. |
- Pelkonen, Markku, et al.
(author)
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Biological nitrogen removal from landfill leachate : A pilot-scale study
- 1999
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In: Waste Management & Research. - : Wiley. - 0734-242X .- 1096-3669 .- 1399-3070. ; 17:6, s. 493-497
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A pilot-scale two-stage process including an anaerobic pretreatment (up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket, UASB) unit and a pre-denitrification activated sludge process was studied for treating leachates from a municipal landfill (waste aged 4 to 5 years, area 2.5 ha) and from a windrow composting area (1 ha). A single-stage pilot process was used for nitrification studies. The leachate characteristics were as follows: COD 740 to 2400 mg l-1 (chemical oxygen demand), BOD7 (biochemical oxygen demand) approximately 1000 mg l-1, N(tot) 40 to 120 mg l-1 and the temperature was between 2 and 21°C. The results show that 45 to 50 COD removal could be achieved in the UASB reactor even at temperatures below 10°C. The activated sludge process was operated with a 1.1 to 2.2 d hydraulic retention time and at between 8 and 21°C. The removal efficiencies were 80 to 90 for COD, over 98 for BOD7, over 90 for NH4-N and over 70 for N(tot). The dependence of denitrification efficiency on leachate biodegradable COD fraction and COD to N ratio was evaluated. Overall treatment efficiencies were good and applicable for design purposes. The total costs were estimated for a full scale pre-denitrification process at FIM 10 to 20 m-3 and FIM 50 to 90 (kg N removed)-1 (3.5 to 7 DM m-3 and 17 to 30 DM [kg N removed]-1) for a landfill representing circumstances in Southern Finland with an annual average flow of 50 m3 d-1.
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| 10. |
- Wainaina, Steven
(author)
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Developing a food waste-based volatile fatty acids platform using an immersed membrane bioreactor
- 2020
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Approximately 1.3 billion tons of food waste is produced globally every year. In principle, all the resources in the supply chain are lost (e.g. land, energy, and water) when the food is not consumed as intended. Anaerobic digestion is an established biological technology to treat food waste, and is mainly employed for recovery of energy in the form of biogas. Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) are formed as intermediate products of the anaerobic digestion process, and can be applied as precursors for various essential biomaterials. The manipulation of the anaerobic digestion process to synthesize these intermediates instead of biogas is considered to recover more value from food waste. However, some bottlenecks that prevent large-scale production and application of VFAs still exist. Among the key issues to be addressed are the difficulty in recovering the VFAs from the fermentation medium and the overall low product yields. The goals of the present thesis were: 1) to investigate methods to boost the production of VFAs from food waste; 2) to continuously recover VFAs from food waste fermentation medium; 3) to determine the changes in the microbial structure during high organic loading of food waste in membrane bioreactors; and 4) to study a novel approach for applying food waste-derived VFAs for cultivating edible filamentous fungi.For continuous product recovery at high yields, an immersed membrane bioreactor was constructed with robust cleaning capabilities to withstand the complex anaerobic digestion medium. The membrane bioreactor was first operated without pH control and a yield of 0.54 g VFA/g VSadded was achieved when an organic loading rate of 2 gVS/L/d was applied. Moreover, only a 16.4% reduction in the permeate flux during a 40-day operation period was recorded. In the second experimental work, the immersed membrane bioreactor system was subjected to high organic loading rates of 4, 6, 8, and 10 g VS/L/d as a tool of manipulating the anaerobic digestion process towards high VFAs and hydrogen production. The highest yield of VFAs was attained at 6 g VS/L/d (0.52 g VFA/gVSadded), while at 8 g VS/L/d, a maximal hydrogen yield of 14.7 NmL/gVSadded was obtained. An analysis of the microbial structure revealed that the presence of Clostridium resulted in high production of acetate, butyrate and caproate. On the other hand, the relative abundance of Lactobacillus was found to influence lactate biosynthesis.Cultivation of edible filamentous fungi presents a novel possibility for application of food waste-derived VFAs. Due to the growing demand of single-cell protein, one of the potential uses for the fungal biomass is the production of animal feed. In this thesis, an edible filamentous fungus, Rhizopus oligosporus was grown solely on the VFAs recovered from the membrane bioreactors. It was revealed that high concentrations could inhibit fungal growth; thus, the dilution of the VFAs solution used as substrate was necessary. Furthermore, when a fed-batch cultivation technique was applied, a four-fold improvement in the biomass production relative to standard batch cultivation was realized. A maximum biomass yield of 0.21 ± 0.01g dry biomass/ g VFAs COD eq. consumed, containing 39.28 ± 1.54% crude protein, was obtained. With further improvements in the VFAs uptake and the biomass yield, this novel concept could be a fundamental step in converting anaerobic digestion facilities into biorefineries.
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