The halotolerant bacterial strain BU-4, isolated from a hypersaline environment, was identified as an exopolysaccharide (EPS) producer. Pretreatment liquids of steam-exploded quinoa stalks and enzymatic hydrolysates of Curupaú sawdust were evaluated as carbon sources for EPS production with the BU-4 strain, and the produced EPS was characterized using FTIR, TGA, and SEM. Cultivation was performed

External sources such as traffic and construction work cause noise and vibration in nearby buildings, potentially annoying human residents. Today, almost every fifth European is harmfully affected by traffic noise and vibration. Wave barriers placed on or embedded within the soil between the source and the receiver can mitigate the transmission of ground vibration, and the airborne noise transmiss

Following decades of international collaboration to restore the Baltic Sea, we provide an assessment of the domestic implementation of measures agreed to limit diffuse agricultural pollution and the patterns of policy instruments applied. Despite the Helsinki Convention being unusually specific in detailing what measures countries should introduce, we find many shortcomings. These are most pronoun

Light/dark cycles play an essential role in people's performance, mood and daily rhythm. This study aimed to evaluate an early prototype of a personalised home lighting system including body-worn loggers. A convenience sample (N = 28) wore the devices for 23 h in the field and were given a demonstration of the lighting system components. Participants reported on questionnaires their acceptance of Light/dark cycles play an essential role in people's performance, mood and daily rhythm. This study aimed to evaluate an early prototype of a personalised home lighting system including body-worn loggers. A convenience sample (N = 28) wore the devices for 23 h in the field and were given a demonstration of the lighting system components. Participants reported on questionnaires their acceptance of

(1) Background: Methyl-group donors (MGDs), including folate, choline, betaine, and methionine, may influence breast cancer (BC) risk through their role in one-carbon metabolism; (2) Methods: We studied the relationship between dietary intakes of MGDs and BC risk, adopting data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort; (3) Results: 318,686 pre-and postmen

Evidence on the effects of meat consumption from different sources on the risk of bladder cancer (BC) is limited and controversial. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the associations between meat consumption and BC risk using a pooled data approach. Individual data from 11 prospective cohorts comprising 2848 BC cases and 515,697 non-cases with a total of 5,498,025 person-years of follow-up w

Objective: The aim was systematically to identify and evaluate factors related to fatigue in individuals with hip and/or knee OA. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted using AMED, CINAHL, MEDLINE, ProQuest and Web of Science Core Collections databases. Inclusion criteria comprised cross-sectional, case-control or longitudinal studies on patients with a diagnosis of hip and/or knee

Cities currently harbour more than half of the world's human population and continued urban expansion replaces natural landscapes and increases habitat fragmentation. The impacts of urbanisation on biodiversity have been extensively studied in some parts of the world, but there is limited information from South Asia, despite the rapid expansion of cities in the region. Here, we present the results

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has been widely tested for chronic pain, with demonstrated efficacy. Nevertheless, although there is meta-analytical evidence on the efficacy of face-to-face ACT, no reviews have been performed on online ACT in this population. The aim of this meta-analysis is to determine the efficacy of online ACT for adults with chronic pain, when compared with controls.

Climate warming leads to vast changes in the land cover types and plant biomass in the northern high-latitude regions. The overall trend is of shrubland and tree lines moving northwards, while changes in different land cover types and vegetation growth in response to climate change are largely unknown. Here, we selected land areas with latitudes higher than 50°N as the study area. We compared the

Utvärderingens syfteMissbruk och beroende av alkohol är ett av de största folkhälsoproblemen. Narkotikamissbruk är mindre vanligt men har stora medicinska konsekvenser för de berörda. De sociala och juridiska aspekterna är betydande. En kritisk genomgång av litteraturen vad avser behandling av abstinens, protraherad abstinens, behandling i syfte att förhindra återfall, psykologiska och sociala beh

In a recent paper, “Environmental DNA: What's behind the term? Clarifying the terminology and recommendations for its future use in biomonitoring,” Pawlowski et al. argue that the term eDNA should be used to refer to the pool of DNA isolated from environmental samples, as opposed to only extra-organismal DNA from macro-organisms. We agree with this view. However, we are concerned that their propos

Background: Improving stroke services is critical for reducing the global stroke burden. The World Stroke Organization–World Health Organization–Lancet Neurology Commission on Stroke conducted a survey of the status of stroke services in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared to high-income countries. Methods: Using a validated World Stroke Organization comprehensive questionnaire, we co

Crowdfunding offers a new potential source of financing of sustainability initiatives and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in particular. Such funding support is potentially even more important given the impacts of COVID-19 on the global economy. However, little theoretically based work has been conducted on sustainability crowdfunding. Therefore, this study builds and tests an integrated