Bakgrund: Barn som besöker vården upplever rädsla och oro inför att vårdåtgärder kan tänkas göra ont. Adekvat smärtlindring är viktig för att lindra barns fysiska och psykiska smärta samt främja god hälsa.  Det finns olika sätt att lindra barns smärta, en metod är lustgasbehandling. Syfte: Syftet var att i form av ett förbättringsarbete utvärdera lustgasbehandling i samband med att barn genomgår en smärtsam procedur på en barn- och ungdomsmedicinsk klinik på ett medelstort sjukhus i södra Sverige. Metod: Förbättringsarbetet genomfördes med en kvantitativ design. Deskriptiv statistik har använts för att utvärdera lustgasens effekter och bieffekter, vidare har andra faktorer som kan påverka behandlingen utvärderats. Resultat: Lustgas har varit användbart i samband med smärtsamma procedurer, behandlingen har fungerat smärtlindrande samt varit till hjälp för barn som varit rädda. Lustgasbehandling uppskattas av både barn och deras vårdnadshavare. Slutsatser: För att lindra barns lidande och utföra god omvårdnad måste barnsjuksköterskan ha kunskap om hur barn upplever smärtsamma situationer samt hur smärta bäst lindras. Det aktuella förbättringsarbetet har bekräftat att lustgas är en metod som kan hjälpa barn i samband med flera typer av smärtsamma procedurer. Genom att kunna välja lustgas som smärtlindrande och lugnande metod kan barnets delaktighet och hälsa främjas. / Background: Children receiving health care experience fear and anxiety related to possible painful procedures. Adequate pain relief is important to ease children’s physical and psychological pain and further to promote good health. There are various ways of relieving children’s pain, one method is nitrous oxide. Aim: The aim was to through an improvement work evaluate the usage of nitrous oxide in connection to children undergoing a painful procedure on a children’s and youth’s medicine ward at a medium sized hospital in south of Sweden. Method: The improvement work was conducted through a quantitative design. Descriptive statistics was used to evaluate the effects and adverse events of nitrous oxide, furthermore has other variables that may affect the treatment been evaluated. Results: Nitrous oxide has been useful when utilized in painful procedures, the treatment has served pain relieving and eased children who experienced fear. Both children and legal guardians appreciated the usage of nitrous oxide. Conclusion: A children’s nurse must possess knowledge related to children’s experience of pain and adequate pain relief in order to ease children’s suffering and administer good care. The current improvement work has confirmed nitrous oxide to be a tool that might help children in connection to several painful procedures. Through the choice of using nitrous oxide as a pain relieving and sedative method the child’s empowerment and health can be improved.

abstract: The global transport and deposition of anthropogenic nitrogen (N) to downwind ecosystems are significant and continue to increase. Indeed, atmospheric deposition can be a significant source of N to many watersheds, including those in remote, unpopulated areas. Bacterial denitrification in lake sediments may ameliorate the effects of N loading by converting nitrate (NO3-) to N2 gas. Denitrification also produces nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas. The ecological effects of atmospheric N inputs in terrestrial ecosystems and the pelagic zone of lakes have been well documented; however, similar research in lake sediments is lacking. This project investigates the effects N of deposition on denitrification and N2O production in lakes. Atmospheric N inputs might alter the availability of NO3- and other key resources to denitrifiers. Such altered resources could influence denitrification, N2O production, and the abundance of denitrifying bacteria in sediments. The research contrasts these responses in lakes at the ends of gradients of N deposition in Colorado and Norway. Rates of denitrification and N2O production were elevated in the sediments of lakes subject to anthropogenic N inputs. There was no evidence, however, that N deposition has altered sediment resources or the abundance of denitrifiers. Further investigation into the dynamics of nitric oxide, N2O, and N2 during denitrification found no difference between deposition regions. Regardless of atmospheric N inputs, sediments from lakes in both Norway and Colorado possess considerable capacity to remove NO3- by denitrification. Catchment-specific properties may influence the denitrifying community more strongly than the rate of atmospheric N loading. In this regard, sediments appear to be insulated from the effects of N deposition compared to the water column. Lastly, surface water N2O concentrations were greater in high-deposition lakes compared to low-deposition lakes. To understand the potential magnitude of deposition-induced N2O production, the greenhouse gas inventory methodology of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was applied to available datasets. Estimated emissions from lakes are 7-371 Gg N y-1, suggesting that lakes could be an important source of N2O. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Biology 2010

Upland grasslands comprise a large proportion of the UK’s land area and are primarily used to graze sheep. These grasslands store large quantities of carbon (C). Changes in land use or climate could affect the ability of these soils to store C and the fluxes of other greenhouse gases associated with agricultural soils, nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). Grazing substantially changes the cycling of C and nitrogen in grassland ecosystems, particularly through the deposition of rapidly degrading excreta, both dung and urine, on the soil. The major non-enteric greenhouse gas emissions associated with this type of extensive farming of ruminants are the emission of N2O and CH4 from soils affected by the animal’s excreta. This PhD project has investigated the cycling of sheep dung in two upland soils of different management regimes to investigate the effects imposed by the plant community. Dung incorporation was measured by capitalising on the natural difference in natural 13C abundance (δ13C ratios) between maize and native British vegetation, which permitted maize-derived sheep dung to be used as a 13C tracer of dung incorporation into soil. A physical and chemical soil fractionation methodology was used to isolate the distinct soil organic carbon (SOC) pools and ascertain the location of the dung C. There were differences between soils in dung C cycling, with more dung C being measured in semi-improved soils at experiment’s end. Throughout the one year timeframe of this experiment, most of the dung C was recovered in the particulate organic matter fraction. Changing the plant community did not have a measurable effect on dung C cycling within the experimental period. Urine patches in grazed pastures represent a major source of agriculture’s N2O emissions. The N2O, CH4 and CO2 fluxes from chambers treated with synthetic urine, synthetic urine and dung, or dung, and an untreated control in randomised block design at two sites were measured over one year. Relevant soil parameters were also measured at each sampling point. From this data N2O emission factors for sheep excreta at these sites were calculated. N2O emission factors were significantly different between sites, were different for dung and urine, and in all cases were less than the current default value used by countries utilising a Tier 1 methodology, according to the IPCC, to inventory N2O emissions derived from grazing livestock. Dietary manipulation has been proposed to increase certain components in urine that are thought to inhibit N2O emission with the aim of reducing livestock greenhouse gas emissions. One such urinary component is hippuric acid. Soil to which synthetic urine with incrementally increased quantities of hippuric acid were added were incubated, as were soils to which dung only and dung and synthetic urine had been added, as well as an untreated control. No significant effect of hippuric acid concentration was observed. N2O emissions from the dung only and dung and urine treatments were unusually high and surpassed those of the urine only treatments. This has been hypothesised to be due to fungal denitrification in the dung treatments or suppression of microbial activity due to ammonia toxicity in the urine-treated soils. The key conclusions from this PhD work are that the effect of dung deposition on SOC cycling may be quite small and appears to result in substitution of native SOC with dung C, rather than an increase in SOC; N2O emissions from sheep dung and urine deposition in semi-improved grasslands is likely to be very low and much lower than the current IPCC default value; and that in our incubation experiment there was no discernible impact of hippuric acid on N2O emissions, but it is possible that this is an experimental artefact.

An efficient management of organic fertilizers (here animal manure and digestate) is of large concern in today´s agriculture. When evaluating the efficiency of alternative management systems, differences in nutrient losses (emissions) must be taken into consideration. Those can be rather specific for e.g. a geographical region and agricultural system. This literature study aimed at identifying emission factors and uncertainty ranges, that are relevant to use in comparative system studies of different organic fertilizer management systems in South Swedish climate. Emissions from manure and digestate storage, application and field losses were considered. For carbon, the sequestration of organic carbon in the soil was considered instead of the carbon dioxide emissions from manure/digestate decomposition in soils. The values were very variable, and the median value was used as the selected emission factor. From storage of liquid cow manure, the ammonia emission for storage with cover was 3 % of the ammonium content, and 10 % without cover. It was about the same for both liquid pig manure (8 %) and solid cattle manure (10 %). The methane emissions during storage were 10 % of the maximum methane potential. Ammonia emissions during application ranged from 10-20 % of ammonium-nitrogen. Two studies of manure carbon sequestration were found that was applicable for the Swedish climate. They indicated that about 8-11 % of the carbon applied as solid manure was sequestered, compared to about 4 % for liquid manure.

Large areas of northern peatlands have been drained and afforested in the second half of the 20th century with significant impacts on important ecosystem services, including loss of biodiversity and potential changes in C storage. A considerable effort is currently invested into restoring original peatland function and ecosystem services, with an increasing area of newly restored peatland areas over recent years. However, the effect of restoration on the greenhouse gas (GHG) budget is unknown. This study is the first quantification of CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes from forest-to-bog restoration sites spanning 0 to 17 years in age. Further, the impact of afforestation on peat decomposition is measured in situ, and the impact of afforestation on the biochemical composition of the peat in relation to CO2 and CH4 fluxes is investigated. Results show that forest-to-bog restoration is successful from a GHG perspective, since all three major GHG fluxes of the restoration sites are changing along the chronosequence towards the fluxes from near pristine bog sites. The peat decomposition rate under the forest plantations is a big part of the total soil respiration at 126.8 ± 14.7 g C m-2 y-1 (44% of total soil CO2 efflux) and our results indicate a slowing down of peat decomposition towards the near pristine bog. CH4 fluxes increase with restoration age, whilst all sites remain a small sink for N2O. I observed changes in peat quality and nutrient availability in the pore water under forests. Different CO2 fluxes between vegetation-free peat cores from different sites for the same temperature and water level show that these differences in peat quality and nutrient availability shape the biogeochemical processes in the peatlands. However only small differences in CH4 fluxes between sites were evident, suggesting that on its own (and in absence of biotic interactions under field conditions), forestry effects on CH4 flux are limited.

Doctor of Philosophy / Agronomy / Charles W. Rice / Substitution of cellulosic biofuel in place of gasoline or diesel could reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation. However, emissions of nitrous oxide (N₂O) and changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) could have a large impact on the GHG balance of cellulosic biofuel, thus there is a need to quantify these responses in cellulosic biofuel crops. The objectives of this study were to: (i) measure changes in yield, SOC and microbial communities in potential cellulosic biofuel cropping systems (ii) measure and characterize the temporal variation in N₂O emissions from these systems (iii) characterize the yield and N₂O response of switchgrass to N fertilizer and to estimate the costs of production. Sweet sorghum, photoperiod-sensitive sorghum, and miscanthus yielded the highest aboveground biomass (20-32 Mg ha⁻¹). The perennial grasses sequestered SOC over 4 yrs, while SOC stocks did not change in the annual crops. Root stocks were 4-8 times higher in the perennial crops, suggesting greater belowground C inputs. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) abundance and aggregate mean weight diameter were higher in the perennials. No consistent significant differences were found in N₂O emissions between crops, though miscanthus tended to have the lowest emissions. Most N₂O was emitted during large events of short duration (1-3 days) that occurred after high rainfall events with high soil NO₃₋. There was a weak relationship between IPCC Tier 1 N₂O estimates and measured emissions, and the IPCC method tended to underestimate emissions. The response of N₂O to N rate was nonlinear in 2 of 3 years. Fertilizer induced emission factor (EF) increased from 0.7% at 50 kg N ha⁻¹ to 2.6% at 150 kg N ha⁻¹. Switchgrass yields increased with N inputs up to 100-150 kg N ha⁻¹, but the critical N level for maximum yields decreased each year, suggesting N was being applied in excess at higher N rates. Yield-scaled costs of production were minimized at 100 kg N ha-1 ($70.91 Mg⁻¹). Together, these results show that crop selection and fertilizer management can have large impacts on the productivity and soil GHG emissions biofuel cropping systems.

Orientador: Jorge de Lucas Junior / Banca: Rogério Teixeira de Faria / Banca: Mônica Sarolli Silva de Mendonça Costa / Banca: Ana Cláudia Ruggieri / Banca: Laura Vanessa Cabral da Costa / Resumo: Algumas práticas de gestão tais como a substituição de fertilizantes sintéticos por orgânicos, uso de inibidores da nitrificação e técnicas de irrigação mais eficientes são sugestões como alternativas eficazes para mitigar as emissões de gases de efeito estufa. O estudo foi realizado na estação experimental "El Encin", Madrid, Espanha. Neste experimento, o objetivo foi avaliar o efeito de diferentes fertilizantes: urina de suínos (U); urina de suínos + inibidor da nitrificação 3,4-dimethylpyrazolephosphate- DMPP (U+I); composto da fase sólida de dejetos de suínos e aves (COM)) e ureia (M); em dois sistemas de diferentes de irrigação (aspersão e gotejamento) nas emissões de gases de efeito estufa (N2O, metano, CH4 e dióxido de carbono, CO2) em solo cultivado milho (Zea mays L.) e o efeito destes tratamentos sobre a produção agrícola. Os fluxos de N2O para a atmosfera, apesar de não apresentarem diferença significativa reduziram com a aplicação de urina + inibidor de nitrificação (DMPP) relação aos demais tratamentos (com fonte de N) sem a adição do inibidor da nitrificação. A irrigação por gotejamento contribuiu para diminuir as emissões acumuladas de N2O. A ureia proporcionou maior produção de biomassa do que todos os tratamentos orgânicos, embora o rendimento de grãos não foi significativamente diferente entre M e U+I. A irrigação por gotejamento não afetou a produção de grãos. O uso de fontes orgânicas de N e a irrigada por gotejamento é uma estratégia ambientalmente aconse... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Some management practices such as the replacement of synthetic fertilizers by organic, use of nitrification inhibitors and more efficient irrigation techniques are suggested as effective alternatives to mitigate emissions of greenhouse gases. The study was carried out at "El Encín" field station in Madrid (latitude 40° 32′N, longitude 3° 17′W). In this experiment, we aimed to assess the effect of different organic amendments (pig urine (U); pig urine with the nitrification inhibitor 3,4-dimethylpyrazolephosphate (U+I); compost from the solid phase of pig slurry (COM)) and urea (U); and two different irrigation systems (the widespread sprinkler and the alternative drip irrigation systems) on greenhouse gas (N2O, methane, CH4, and carbon dioxide, CO2) emissions in a maize (Zea mays L.) crop. The effect of these treatments on crop yields was also evaluated. The N2O fluxes to the atmosphere, although not present significant difference reduced with the application of urine + nitrification inhibitor (DMPP) compared to other treatments (with N source) without the addition of nitrification inhibitor. Drip irrigation helped reduce the cumulative emissions of N2O. The urea provided higher biomass production than all organic treatments, although the grain yield was not significantly different between M and U + I. Drip irrigation did not affect grain production. The use of organic sources of N and drip irrigated is an environmentally wise strategy, but a great balance between mitigating ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Orientador: Newton La Scala Júnior / Abstract: The production of the main soil greenhouse gases (GHG: CO2, CH4 and N2O) is influenced by agricultural practices that causes changes in soil phys¬ical, chemical and biological attributes, directly affecting their emission to the atmos¬phere. The aim of this study was to investigate the infield soil CO2 emissions (FCO2) and the soil CO2, CH4 and N2O production potentials (PCO2, PCH4 and PN2O, respec¬tively) in laboratory conditions, and their relationship to soil attributes in a mechanically harvested sugarcane area. The experimental area consisted of a 50 × 50-m radially symmetrical grid containing 133 points spaced at minimum distances of 0.5 m in the center of the sample grid. It was carried out eight evaluations of FCO2, soil temperature and soil moisture over a period of 19 days. Soil physical and chemical attributes were determined by sampling at a depth of 0-10 cm. The quantification of PCO2, PCH4 and PN2O consisted of laboratory incubation and determination of gas concentration by gas chromatography. FCO2 presented an infield average emission value of 1.19 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1, while GHG production in laboratory was 2.34 µg C-CO2 g−1 d−1 and 0.20 ng N-N2O g−1 d−1 for PCO2 and PN2O, respectively. No significant production or oxidation was observed for CH4. The factor analysis showed the formation of two independent processes that explained almost 72% of the total variance observed in the data. The first process was related to the transport of FCO2 and its relation to soil p... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Resumo: A produção dos principais gases de efeito estufa (GEE: CO2, CH4 e N2O) é influenciada por práticas agrícolas que causam alterações nos atributos físi¬cos, químicos e biológicos do solo, afetando diretamente sua emissão para a atmos¬fera. O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar a emissão de CO2 do solo (FCO2) em con¬dições de campo e a produção potencial de CO2, CH4 e N2O do solo (PCO2, PCH4 e PN2O, respectivamente) em condições de laboratório, além de suas relações com os atributos do solo em uma área de cana-de-açúcar colhida mecanicamente. A área experimental constituiu-se de um gradeado simétrico radialmente de 50 × 50 m con-tendo 133 pontos espaçados em distâncias mínimas de 0,5 m no centro da malha amostral. Foram conduzidas oito avaliações para FCO2, temperatura e umidade do solo durante um período de 19 dias. Os atributos físicos e químicos do solo foram determinados por meio de amostragem na profundidade de 0-10 cm. A quantificação de PCO2, PCH4 e PN2O consistiu de incubação em laboratório e determinação da con¬centração dos gases por meio de cromatografia gasosa. FCO2 apresentou um valor de emissão média de 1,19 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1, enquanto a produção de GEE em laborató¬rio foi de 2,34 µg C-CO2 g−1 d−1 e 0,20 ng N-N2O g−1 d−1 respectivamente para PCO2 e PN2O. Não foi observada produção ou oxidação significativa de CH4. A análise de fatores mostrou a formação de dois processos independentes que explicaram quase 72% da variância total observada nos dados. O primeiro proce... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Doutor

The linkage between denitrification activity, N gas emissions, and the size of the denitrifier community in soils of an upland pasture was investigated. Special emphasis was placed on soil pH as a regulating factor, the spatial distribution of denitrification, and the degree of cattle impact. The thesis has been based on field and laboratory measurements using both conventional and modern methods of soil ecology.

Sammanfattning Bakgrund: Smärtsamma procedurer i barnsjukvården kan vara en orsak till att barn blir rädda och utvecklar fobier. Flera metoder finns för att minska barns upplevda smärta vid smärtsamma procedurer, en metod är lustgas. Syftet med lustgasen är att blockera receptorer så att känslan av smärta minskar.    Syfte: Syftet med studien var att undersöka barns självskattade smärta under smärtsamma procedurer och jämföra skillnader mellan ålder och kön då lustgas som smärtlindrande metod användes. Vidare undersöktes om barn som använt lustgasen skulle vilja använda den igen vid smärtsamma procedurer. Metod: Med en kvantitativ och jämförande kohortdesign, undersöktes tidigare ifyllda protokoll som användes vid lustgasbehandlingar på Gävle sjukhus. Från protokollen extraherades data om barns smärtskattning under lustgasbehandling vid smärtsamma procedurer. Skattningen beskrivs med en ordinalskala från 0 till 10. T-test användes för att undersöka skillnader mellan åldersgrupperna 7 till 11 år och 12 till 18 år samt mellan pojkar och flickor. Vidare samlades data in om barns önskan att använda lustgas igen från protokollen och beskrevs sedan med procentfördelning mellan ja och nej. Resultat: 149 protokoll i båda åldersgrupperna analyserades. Det var ingen skillnad mellan deras smärtskattning under lustgasbehandling. Totalt jämfördes 152 protokoll från flickor och 146 från pojkar som visade en signifikant skillnad mellan könen (p=0.02). Medelvärdet (standardavvikelse) för flickornas självskattade smärta var 2.3 (2.7) och pojkarnas var 1.6 (2.2). Resultatet visade att 97 % av barnen svarade att de ville använda sig av lustgas vid en annan smärtsam procedur. Slutsats: Lustgasbehandling tolkas som en bra metod för att lindra smärta vid smärtsamma procedurer och metoden verkar uppskattas av de barn som använd sig av den. Skillnaden mellan flickor och pojkars smärtskattning under lustgasbehandling indikerar på att vidare forskning kan behövas. / Abstract   Background: Painful procedures in the care of children may cause fear and phobia later in life. Several methods exist to reduce children's perceived pain during painful procedures and one method is nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide blocks receptors to reduce the pain experience.   Aim: The purpose was to investigate children's self-assessed pain during painful procedures and compare ratings between age-groups (7-11 vs 12-18 years) and gender. Furthermore, the study explored wheatear children who had used nitrous oxide would like to use it again during another painful procedure.   Method: A quantitative and comparative cohort design was used. Protocols from Gävle Hospital regarding children’s pain assessments during nitrous oxide treatments during procedures were reviewed. From the protocols, the children's pain estimations were extracted when nitrous oxide treatment was used during painful procedures. The pain estimation was described on an ordinal scale, ranging from 0 to 10. Independent t-tests were used to investigate differences between age-groups 7 to 11 year’s vs 12 to 18 years and between genders. Furthermore, data were collected (yes/no) to explore if the children had a desire to use nitrous oxide again if they were to undergo another painful procedure.   Results: 149 protocols in each of the two age-groups was analyzed and no significant difference between children’s pain estimation during nitrous oxide treatment was found. In comparison of 152 protocols representing girls and 146 boys a significant difference between the genders was found regarding their pain estimation. Mean (standardeviation) for girls estimated pain were 2.3 (2.7) and for boys 1.6 (2.2). The result showed that 97 % of the children had a desire to use nitrous oxide again if they had to undergo another painful procedure. Conclusion: Nitrous oxide as a pain relief treatment shown to have a positive effect to reduce the pain experience during painful procedures   and the method seems to be appreciated by the children who have used it. The difference between girls’ and boys’ pain estimation during nitrous oxide treatment indicates that further research is needed.