Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

About: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences is a education organization based out in Uppsala, Sweden. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Soil water. The organization has 13510 authors who have published 35241 publications receiving 1414458 citations. The organization is also known as: Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet & SLU.

Early contact versus separation: effects on mother-infant interaction one year later.

Abstract: : Background: A tradition of separation of the mother and baby after birth still persists in many parts of the world, including some parts of Russia, and often is combined with swaddling of the baby. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare possible long-term effects on mother-infant interaction of practices used in the delivery and maternity wards, including practices relating to mother-infant closeness versus separation.Methods:A total of 176 mother-infant pairs were randomized into four experimental groups: Group I infants were placed skin-to-skin with their mothers after birth, and had rooming-in while in the maternity ward. Group II infants were dressed and placed in their mothers’ arms after birth, and roomed-in with their mothers in the maternity ward. Group III infants were kept in the nursery both after birth and while their mothers were in the maternity ward. Group IV infants were kept in the nursery after birth, but roomed-in with their mothers in the maternity ward. Equal numbers of infants were either swaddled or dressed in baby clothes. Episodes of early suckling in the delivery ward were noted. The mother-infant interaction was videotaped according to the Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment (PCERA) 1 year after birth.Results:The practice of skin-to-skin contact, early suckling, or both during the first 2 hours after birth when compared with separation between the mothers and their infants positively affected the PCERA variables maternal sensitivity, infant's self-regulation, and dyadic mutuality and reciprocity at 1 year after birth. The negative effect of a 2-hour separation after birth was not compensated for by the practice of rooming-in. These findings support the presence of a period after birth (the early “sensitive period”) during which close contact between mother and infant may induce long-term positive effect on mother-infant interaction. In addition, swaddling of the infant was found to decrease the mother’s responsiveness to the infant, her ability for positive affective involvement with the infant, and the mutuality and reciprocity in the dyad.Conclusions:Skin-to-skin contact, for 25 to 120 minutes after birth, early suckling, or both positively influenced mother-infant interaction 1 year later when compared with routines involving separation of mother and infant.

Optimal stomatal behaviour around the world

Abstract: Stomatal conductance (g(s)) is a key land-surface attribute as it links transpiration, the dominant component of global land evapotranspiration, and photosynthesis, the driving force of the global carbon cycle. Despite the pivotal role of g(s) in predictions of global water and carbon cycle changes, a global-scale database and an associated globally applicable model of g(s) that allow predictions of stomatal behaviour are lacking. Here, we present a database of globally distributed g(s) obtained in the field for a wide range of plant functional types (PFTs) and biomes. We find that stomatal behaviour differs among PFTs according to their marginal carbon cost of water use, as predicted by the theory underpinning the optimal stomatal model(1) and the leaf and wood economics spectrum(2,3). We also demonstrate a global relationship with climate. These findin g(s) provide a robust theoretical framework for understanding and predicting the behaviour of g(s) across biomes and across PFTs that can be applied to regional, continental and global-scale modelling of ecosystem productivity, energy balance and ecohydrological processes in a future changing climate.

Pre-industrial atmospheric lead contamination detected in Swedish lake sediments

Abstract: DESPITE evidence from Greenland ice cores for pre-industrial atmospheric trace-metal contamination1,2 it is commonly assumed that air pollution in remote areas is a recent problem caused by industrial activities, fossil-fuel burning and emissions from motor vehicles. Here we report analyses of lake sediments from Sweden showing that atmospheric lead deposition increased above back-ground levels more than 2,600 years ago. There was a small, but marked lead deposition peak about 2,000 years ago, and a more significant increase that began 1,000 years ago and accelerated during the nineteenth and particularly the twentieth centuries, with a deposition maximum at about ad 1970. Before the nineteenth century industrialization, lead concentrations in lake sediments from southern Sweden had already reached 10–30 times previous background levels as a result of atmospheric deposition. We suggest that this pre-industrial airborne pollution was derived from extensive production and use of lead in Europe, starting with the Greek and Roman cultures3,4. The cumulative deposition from anthropogenic sources in pre-industrial times (∼600 bc to ad 1800) was at least as large as the cumulative deposition during the industrial period (ad 1800 to the present).

Increased food and ecosystem security via perennial grains

Abstract: Despite doubling of yields of major grain crops since the 1950s, more than one in seven people suffer from malnutrition ( 1 ) Global population is growing; demand for food, especially meat, is increasing; much land most suitable for annual crops is already in use; and production of nonfood goods (eg, biofuels) increasingly competes with food production for land ( 2 ) The best lands have soils at low or moderate risk of degradation under annual grain production but make up only 126% of global land area (165 million km2) ( 3 ) Supporting more than 50% of world population is another 437 million km2 of marginal lands (335% of global land area), at high risk of degradation under annual grain production but otherwise capable of producing crops ( 3 ) Global food security depends on annual grains—cereals, oilseeds, and legumes—planted on almost 70% of croplands, which combined supply a similar portion of human calories ( 4 , 5 ) Annual grain production, though, often compromises essential ecosystem services, pushing some beyond sustainable boundaries ( 5 ) To ensure food and ecosystem security, farmers need more options to produce grains under different, generally less favorable circumstances than those under which increases in food security were achieved this past century Development of perennial versions of important grain crops could expand options