Geographic and temporal variation in the consumption of bats by European barn owls

Capsule We report a review of the occurrence of bats in the Barn Owl diet Tyto alba in Europe. Based on 802 studies reporting 4.02 million prey items identified in pellets, 4949 were bats (0.12%). We found that bat predation decreased during the last 150 years, is more frequent on islands than mainland, and is higher in eastern than western Europe and in southern than northern Europe. Although Barn Owls usually capture bats opportunistically, they can sometimes specialize on them.

Puutuhkasta ja muista jäteaineista valmistetut pelletit rauduskoivun taimien ravinnelähteenä

Summary: Pellets made of wood ash and other wastes as nutrient sources for silver birch seedlings

Amphibians in the diet of European Barn Owls

We present a review of the propensity to eat amphibians in the Barn Owl Tyto alba in Europe. Based on the analysis of 596 published studies reporting 3.32 million prey items identified in pellets, 17 869 amphibians (0.54%) were found. An analysis of 9036 amphibians identified to the species level showed that Barn Owls avoid consuming toxic species, and they are able to capture tree frogs (Hylidae) only rarely. The true frogs (Ranidae) are by far the most frequently captured amphibians followed by spadefoot toads (Pelobatidae) and Parsley frogs (Pelodytidae).

A simple blood-culture bacterial pellet preparation for faster accurate direct bacterial identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing with the VITEK 2 system.

An ammonium chloride procedure was used to prepare a bacterial pellet from positive blood cultures, which was used for direct inoculation of VITEK 2 cards. Correct identification reached 99% for Enterobacteriaceae and 74% for staphylococci. For antibiotic susceptibility testing, very major and major errors were 0.1 and 0.3% for Enterobacteriaceae, and 0.7 and 0.1% for staphylococci, respectively. Thus, bacterial pellets prepared with ammonium chloride allow direct inoculation of VITEK cards with excellent accuracy for Enterobacteriaceae and a lower accuracy for staphylococci.

Corticosterone inhibits the lipid-mobilizing effects of oleoyl-estrone in adrenalectomized rats

Oleoyl-estrone (OE) is an adipose-derived signal that decreases energy intake and body lipid, maintaining energy expenditure and glycemic homeostasis. Glucocorticoids protect body lipid and the metabolic status quo. We studied the combined effects of OE and corticosterone in adrenalectomized female rats: daily OE gavages (0 or 10 nmol/g) and slow-release corticosterone pellets at four doses (0, 0.5, 1.7, and 4.8 mg/d). Intact and sham-operated controls were also included. After 8 d, body composition and plasma metabolites and hormones were measured. OE induced a massive lipid mobilization (in parallel with decreased food intake and maintained energy expenditure). Corticosterone increased fat deposition and inhibited the OE-elicited mobilization of body energy, even at the lowest dose. OE enhanced the corticosterone-induced rise in plasma triacylglycerols, and corticosterone blocked the OE-induced decrease in leptin. High corticosterone and OE increased insulin resistance beyond the effects of corticosterone alone. The presence of corticosterone dramatically affected OE effects, reversing its decrease of body energy (lipid) content, with little or no change on food intake or energy expenditure. The maintenance of glycemia and increasing insulin in parallel to the dose of corticosterone indicate a decrease in insulin sensitivity, which is enhanced by OE. The reversal of OE effects on lipid handling, insulin resistance, can be the consequence of a corticosterone-induced OE resistance. Nevertheless, OE effects on cholesterol were largely unaffected. In conclusion, corticosterone administration effectively blocked OE effects on body lipid and energy balance as well as insulin sensitivity and glycemia.

Diets based on soybean protein for Mediterranean fruit fly

The objective of this work was to develop suitable and economic diets for mass rearing Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae). Diets containing sugar beet bagase, wheat bran, brewer yeast, and others with wheat bran and palletized soybean protein from Brazil were tested. Diets based on soybean protein have shown promising results regarding pupal recovery, pupal weight and adult emergence. Soybean bagase in the form of pellets with 60% of protein can be a very important substitute for other expensive sources of protein.

Proposal of three thermodynamic variables to discriminate between storms associated with hail and storms with intense rainfall in Catalonia (Proposta de tres variables termodinàmiques per discriminar entre tempestes amb pedregades i tempestes amb pluges intenses)

Between late spring and early fall, the development of storms is common in Catalonia. Despite the fact that they usually produce heavy showers of short duration, they can also involve severe weather with ice pellets or hail. While the latter usually affect inland regions, and there are numerous publications on these cases; the analysis of events affecting the coast and causing damage to public and private properties is not so well developed. The aim of this study is to provide additional thermodynamic indicators that help differentiate storms with hail from storms without hail, considering cases that have affected various regions of Catalonia, mainly coastal areas. The aim is to give more information to improve prognosis and the ability to detail information in these situations. The procedure developed involved the study of several episodes of heavy rainfall and hail that hit Catalonia during the 2003-2009 period, mainly in the province of Girona, and validated the proposal during the campaign of late summer and fall of 2009, as well as 2012. For each case, several variables related to temperature, humidity and wind were analyzed at different levels of the atmosphere, while the information provided by the radio sounding in Barcelona was also taken into account. From this study, it can be concluded that the temperature difference between 500 hPa and 850 hPa, the humidity in the lower layers of the atmosphere and the LI index are good indicators for the detection of storms with associated hail.

Estudi de la viabilitat econòmica de la implantació d'una planta de piròlisi per a la producció de biochar en un context local i comarcal

En aquest document es pretén estudiar de la viabilitat econòmica de la implantació d’una planta de piròlisi per a la producció de biochar o char en un context local i comarcal. La biomassa és una font d’energia que genera uns rendiments energètics prou interesants i d’una manera respectuosa amb el medi ambient. Així doncs, la teòrica planta utilitzarà biomassa que, a traves del tractament termoquímic de la piròlisi, ens generarà uns productes que són d’utilitat per l’obtenció d’energia d’una manera respectuosa amb el medi ambient. Abans de fer l’anàlisi econòmic, hi ha una explicació extensa dels processos termoquímics, com són la piròlisi, la gasificació i la torrefacció. Posteriorment, es du a terme una revisió de l’estat actual de les tecnologies de conversió de biomassa a Catalunya i finalment es realitza un inventari i anàlisi dels usos de la biomassa a Catalunya, en el qual es parla principalment de l’estella el pèl·let, així com també de la seva producció, consum i exportació. El nostre anàlisi econòmic de la planta de processament de biomassa es durà a terme a nivell local, és a dir en un municipi, i també a nivell comarcal a Catalunya. A partir del processament de biomassa per mitja de la piròlisi, obtindrem uns productes, entre els quals el biochar, que serà un dels productes finals per poder vendre. L’altre producte serà el pèl·let de biochar, que l’obtindrem a través del procés de pel·letització. Aquest procés ens permetrà densificar el mateix biochar i obtenir-ne pèl·lets amb un poder calorífic superior, com també el seu possible preu de venda final. En aquest anàlisi econòmic plantejarem diferents escenaris tant a nivell local com comarcal, és a dir, farem variar diferents paràmetres de la planta, com poden ser els dies, les hores de treball, el sou dels treballadors, l’existència de procés de pel·letització...per veure la viabilitat del nostre projecte. Aquesta viabilitat la mesurarem amb diferents Índexs, entre els quals hi ha l’Índex de Rendibilitat, que ens determinarà si el projecte és possible si el seu valor és més gran a 1.

Feed intake and growth performance of goats supplemented with soy waste

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of supplemental feeding of soy waste on the feed intake and growth rate of goats. Twenty male crossbred (Boer x local) goats were assigned to two isonitrogenous diet groups: one of commercial pellet and the other of soy waste. The commercial pellet (1.0%) and soy waste (0.8%) were provided on the dry matter basis of body weight (BW) per day, to the respective group of each diet. The soy waste group had lower daily intakes of total dry matter (0.79 vs. 0.88 kg) and organic matter (665.71 vs. 790.44 g) than the group fed pellet; however, the differences on daily intakes for grass (0.62 vs. 0.64 kg), crude protein (96.81 vs. 96.83 g), and neutral detergent fibre (483.70 vs. 499.86 g) were not significant. No differences were observed between groups for BW gain. The feed conversion ratio and feed cost per kilogram of BW gain were lower for the group fed soy waste than for the one fed pellet. Goats fed supplemental soy waste have a lower total dry matter intake, feed conversion ratio, and feed cost per kilogram of body weight gain than those fed commercial pellets.

Characterization of membrane vesicles circulating in the serum of patients with common acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Common acute lymphoblastic leukemia antigen detected by radioimmunoassay in the serum of patients with common acute lymphoblastic leukemia was found to be exclusively associated with the pellet of the serum samples obtained by ultracentrifugation at 100,000 X g. The pellets were shown to contain membrane vesicles or fragments which were characterized by electron microscopy and determination of enzymatic activity. The pelleted fragments had an apparent diameter ranging between 60 and 260 nm and showed a trilaminar membrane structure. On freeze-fracture preparations, the fragments with concave profile, corresponding to the external fracture face of plasma membrane, displayed an intramembrane particle density (ranging from 0 to 750 particles per micron2) which is similar to that recorded on the corresponding fracture face of intact cells from the common lymphoblastic leukemia antigen positive leukemic cell line (Nalm-1) or of vesicles shed in the culture medium by Nalm-1 cells. Furthermore, analysis of the membrane enzyme marker 5'-nucleotidase in the pellet of patient's sera, showed that the presence of this enzyme correlated with that of common lymphoblastic leukemia antigen, but the quantitative relationship between the two surface constituents was not linear. The results suggest that the two markers are located on the same membrane fragments, but that their individual distribution on the shed fragments is heterogeneous.

Solid and liquid biofuels markets in Finland - a study on international biofuels trade

This study considered the current situation of solid and liquid biofuels markets and international biofuels trade in Finland and identified the challenges ofthe emerging international biofuels markets for Finland. The fact that industryconsumes more than half of the total primary energy, widely applied combined heat and power production (CHP) and a high share of biofuels in the total energy consumption are specific to the Finnish energy system. One third of the electricity is generated in CHP plants. As much as 27% of the total energy consumption ismet by using wood and peat, which makes Finland the leading country in the use of biofuels. Finland has made a commitment to maintain greenhouse gas emissions at the 1990 level at the highest during the period 2008-2012. The Finnish energypolicy aims to achieve the target, and a variety of measures are taken to promote the use of renewable energy sources and especially wood fuels. In this study, the wooden raw material streams of the forest industry were included the international biofuels trade in addition to biomass streams that are traded for energy production. In 2004, as much as 45% of the raw wood importedinto Finland ended up in energy production. The total international trading of biofuels was evaluated at 72 PJ, of which the majority, 58 PJ, was raw wood. About 22% of wood based energy in Finland originated from imported raw wood. Tall oil and wood pellets composed the largest export streams of biofuels. The annual turnover of international biofuels trade was estimated at about ¤ 90 million fordirect trade and at about ¤ 190 million for indirect trade. The forest industryas the biggest user of wood, and the producer and user of wood fuels has a central position in biomass and biofuels markets in Finland. Lately, the international aspects of Finnish biofuels markets have been emphasised as the import of rawwood and the export of wood pellets have increased. Expanding the use of biofuels in the road transportation sector would increase the international streams ofbiofuels in Finland. In coming years, the international trading of biomass for energy purposes can be expected to continue growing.

Formation and Control of Trace Metal Emissions in Co-Firing of Biomass, Peat, and Wastes in Fluidised Bed Combustors

Environmentally harmful consequences of fossil fuel utilisation andthe landfilling of wastes have increased the interest among the energy producers to consider the use of alternative fuels like wood fuels and Refuse-Derived Fuels, RDFs. The fluidised bed technology that allows the flexible use of a variety of different fuels is commonly used at small- and medium-sized power plants ofmunicipalities and industry in Finland. Since there is only one mass-burn plantcurrently in operation in the country and no intention to build new ones, the co-firing of pre-processed wastes in fluidised bed boilers has become the most generally applied waste-to-energy concept in Finland. The recently validated EU Directive on Incineration of Wastes aims to mitigate environmentally harmful pollutants of waste incineration and co-incineration of wastes with conventional fuels. Apart from gaseous flue gas pollutants and dust, the emissions of toxic tracemetals are limited. The implementation of the Directive's restrictions in the Finnish legislation is assumed to limit the co-firing of waste fuels, due to the insufficient reduction of the regulated air pollutants in the existing flue gas cleaning devices. Trace metals emission formation and reduction in the ESP, the condensing wet scrubber, the fabric filter, and the humidification reactor were studied, experimentally, in full- and pilot-scale combustors utilising the bubbling fluidised bed technology, and, theoretically, by means of reactor model calculations. The core of the model is a thermodynamic equilibrium analysis. The experiments were carried out with wood chips, sawdust, and peat, and their refuse-derived fuel, RDF, blends. In all, ten different fuels or fuel blends were tested. Relatively high concentrations of trace metals in RDFs compared to the concentrations of these metals in wood fuels increased the trace metal concentrations in the flue gas after the boiler ten- to hundred-folds, when RDF was co-fired with sawdust in a full-scale BFB boiler. In the case of peat, lesser increase in trace metal concentrations was observed, due to the higher initial trace metal concentrations of peat compared to sawdust. Despite the high removal rate of most of the trace metals in the ESP, the Directive emission limits for trace metals were exceeded in each of the RDF co-firing tests. The dominat trace metals in fluegas after the ESP were Cu, Pb and Mn. In the condensing wet scrubber, the flue gas trace metal emissions were reduced below the Directive emission limits, whenRDF pellet was used as a co-firing fuel together with sawdust and peat. High chlorine content of the RDFs enhanced the mercuric chloride formation and hence the mercury removal in the ESP and scrubber. Mercury emissions were lower than theDirective emission limit for total Hg, 0.05 mg/Nm3, in all full-scale co-firingtests already in the flue gas after the ESP. The pilot-scale experiments with aBFB combustor equipped with a fabric filter revealed that the fabric filter alone is able to reduce the trace metal concentrations, including mercury, in the flue gas during the RDF co-firing approximately to the same level as they are during the wood chip firing. Lower trace metal emissions than the Directive limits were easily reached even with a 40% thermal share of RDF co-firing with sawdust.Enrichment of trace metals in the submicron fly ash particle fraction because of RDF co-firing was not observed in the test runs where sawdust was used as the main fuel. The combustion of RDF pellets with peat caused an enrichment of As, Cd, Co, Pb, Sb, and V in the submicron particle mode. Accumulation and release oftrace metals in the bed material was examined by means of a bed material analysis, mass balance calculations and a reactor model. Lead, zinc and copper were found to have a tendency to be accumulated in the bed material but also to have a tendency to be released from the bed material into the combustion gases, if the combustion conditions were changed. The concentration of the trace metal in the combustion gases of the bubbling fluidised bed boiler was found to be a summary of trace metal fluxes from three main sources. They were (1) the trace metal flux from the burning fuel particle (2) the trace metal flux from the ash in the bed, and (3) the trace metal flux from the active alkali metal layer on the sand (and ash) particles in the bed. The amount of chlorine in the system, the combustion temperature, the fuel ash composition and the saturation state of the bed material in regard to trace metals were discovered to be key factors affecting therelease process. During the co-firing of waste fuels with variable amounts of e.g. ash and chlorine, it is extremely important to consider the possible ongoingaccumulation and/or release of the trace metals in the bed, when determining the flue gas trace metal emissions. If the state of the combustion process in regard to trace metals accumulation and/or release in the bed material is not known,it may happen that emissions from the bed material rather than the combustion of the fuel in question are measured and reported.

Propagation of the Ignition Front against Airflow in Packed Beds of Wood Particles

Combustion of wood is increasing because of the needs of decreasing the emissions of carbon dioxide and the amount of waste going to landfills. Wood based fuels are often scattered on a large area. The transport distances should be short enough to prevent too high costs, and so the size of heating and power plants using wood fuels is often rather small. Combustion technologies of small-size units have to be developed to reach efficient and environmentally friendly energy production. Furnaces that use different packed bed combustion or gasification techniques areoften most economic in small-scale energy production. Ignition front propagation rate affects the stability, heat release rate and emissions of packed bed combustion. Ignition front propagation against airflow in packed beds of wood fuels has been studied. The research has been carried out mainly experimentally. Theoretical aspects have been considered to draw conclusions about the experimental results. The effects of airflow rate, moisture content of the fuel, size, shape and density of particles, and porosity of the bed on the propagation rate of the ignition front have been studied. The experiments were carried out in a pot furnace. The fuels used in the experiments were mainly real wood fuels that are often burned in the production of energy. The fuel types were thin wood chips, saw dust, shavings, wood chips, and pellets with different sizes. Also a few mixturesof the above were tested. Increase in the moisture content of the fuel decreases the propagation rates of the ignition front and makes the range of possible airflow rates narrower because of the energy needed for the evaporation of water and the dilution of volatile gases due to evaporated steam. Increase in the airflow rate increases the ignition rate until a maximum rate of propagation is reached after which it decreases. The maximum flame propagation rate is not always reached in stoichiometric combustion conditions. Increase in particle size and density transfers the optimum airflow rate towards fuel lean conditions. Mixing of small and large particles is often advantageous, because small particles make itpossible to reach the maximum ignition rate in fuel rich conditions, and large particles widen the range of possible airflow rates. A correlation was found forthe maximum rate of ignition front propagation in different wood fuels. According to the correlation, the maximum ignition mass flux is increased when the sphericity of the particles and the porosity of the bed are increased and the moisture content of the fuel is decreased. Another fit was found between sphericity and porosity. Increase in sphericity decreases the porosity of the bed. The reasons of the observed results are discussed.

Seospellettien pienpoltto

This work is a part of Vapos research over mixed pellets. In this work combustion of ten different mixed pellets are examined. This is done by two kinds of tests, burning tests and ash melting tests. First there is a short review how different bio fuels burn and what kind of problems they cause. After this burning characteristics and flue gas calculation methods are acquainted. In test part burning tests and ash melting tests and their results are reported. Lastly conclusions and considerations over further study are done.

Sachês absorvedores de etileno na pós-colheita de maçãs 'Royal Gala'

A redução dos níveis de etileno no ambiente de armazenamento é importante na preservação da qualidade pós-colheita de frutos. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar o efeito de sachês contendo pellets (10g) impregnados com absorvedor de etileno à base de permanganato de potássio (KMnO4), na preservação da qualidade pós-colheita de maçãs 'Royal Gala' armazenadas em câmara fria e em temperatura ambiente. O emprego de um ou dois sachês de produto, durante o armazenamento refrigerado convencional (dois meses a 0±0,5ºC/90-95% de UR) dos frutos, acondicionados em caixas de 18kg, envoltos em filme de polietileno de alta densidade (30µm), reduziu a concentração de etileno no interior da embalagem. Isto ocasionou maior retenção de cor verde na casca e de firmeza de polpa e menor incremento no teor de sólidos solúveis nos frutos, especialmente após uma semana de comercialização simulada (20±4ºC/70-80% de UR). Em temperatura ambiente, a utilização de um sachê de produto por caixa reduziu a concentração de etileno no interior das embalagens de polietileno e retardou o amadurecimento dos frutos em relação ao tratamentocontrole, sendo este efeito mais expressivo em frutos colhidos em estádios menos avançados de maturação. Os resultados obtidos mostram que o absorvedor de etileno à base de KMnO4 representa uma alternativa viável para a preservação da qualidade de maçãs 'Royal Gala', imediatamente após a colheita, durante o transporte refrigerado, na exportação de maçãs, bem como durante a comercialização, em temperatura ambiente.