Production In European Countries Research Articles

Cannabis use in Europe: Current trends and public health concerns

In this contribution, I summarize recent trends of cannabis use in Europe and their public health implications. The first trend refers to an increase of treatment demand for cannabis problems by 76% while prevalence of cannabis use remained largely stable in the same period, based on available data. There are good reasons to assume that this trend reflects increases in the prevalence of cannabis use disorders, however, data to support this claim are not available. Potential drivers for a rising prevalence of cannabis use disorders comprise changes in consumption patterns and increasing levels of THC in available cannabis products. While an increasing prevalence of cannabis use disorders seem likely, the estimates of the Global Burden of Disease studies suggest the opposite. The second trend refers to an emerging market for cannabidiol (CBD) products in European countries, where regulations on CBD are lacking. Given the lack of data on users of CBD products, it can hardly be assessed if current abstainers will initiate using other cannabis products after trying CBD products for medicinal or recreational purposes. However, regulations should be implemented and enforced in order to make CBD products safer for consumers, for instance by ensuring reliable potency levels and by reducing the presence of toxic substances through quality control measures. In summary, a substantial transition of the epidemiology of cannabis use is under way, accompanied by changes in potency, treatment demand and new products. In order to assess the public health implications of this transition, data on population exposure of specific cannabinoids are required.

Cluster analysis of beef production distribution in Europe

Fragmentation and poor connection within the beef production industry affects its positive contribution to the economy, land management, and development of rural areas. Despite the third place in world beef production European countries have achieved one of the best results in environmental management of cattle breeding worldwide. On the other side there is a huge variability of beef and veal production on national and regional level, reflecting the varied geographical, economic and social requirements of different European regions. Even in case of moderate beef consumption (16 kg per capita per year) in the European Union, meat as the source of proteins of animal origin is connected to higher value added, higher employment, profit and incomes in agriculture comparing to crop production. On the other side it also requires higher investments and represents a greater risk. Different levels of agrarian subsidies and the efficiency of their use exacerbate the differences in the production of beef and veal in the countries of the European Union. In submitted paper we investigated beef production distribution similarity of selected countries in Europe. Quantitative approach was applied using cluster analysis in accordance with the Ward's minimum variance method with previous computation of similarity of the territories through the Euclidean distance. Three clusters representing the beef production similarity among the explored countries were visualised by dendrograms within observed steps in the year 2008 and the year 2017. Order of similarity and dissimilarity in beef production according to the Euclidean distance values of all the possible pairs of the districts from the whole data set in observed countries was processed for examined period of time. Finally, the heat maps were constructed to demonstrate the similaritity between each pair of the comprised countries. Obtained results could serve as a valuable resource for meat producers to understand the time dynamics impact and differences in level of beef production in European countries.

Incidents with Dioxins and PCBs in Food and Feed-Investigative Work, Risk Management and Economic Consequences

The identification of contamination sources within the food chain with polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-furans (PCDFs), (“dioxins”), and PCBs is difficult and complex. PCDD/PCDF can be formed as unintentional compounds in a number of chemical processes as well as in almost every combustion process. PCBs were intentionally produced chemicals that were manufactured for decades before the ban in marketing and use in many countries around 1985. The pattern of occurrence can change from the original source in particular via feedingstuffs to food of animal origin as result of bioaccumulation. A number of examples illustrate the challenging detective work and key scientific aspects for identification of the sources, for support of the risk management and for performance of monitoring programs. The contamination of milk and milk products in European countries with dioxins was caused by compound feeds containing citrus pulp pellets from Brazil which had high dioxin levels as a result of the use of heavily contaminated lime used for neutralization. The Belgian dioxin crisis was caused by a feed additive heavily contaminated with PCBs which were discharged into a recycled fat used in the production of animal feed. Guar gum from India was contaminated with sodium pentachlorophenate and dioxins. Clay was found to be possibly highly contaminated with dioxins possibly formed by geothermal processes over time; use of such clay as feed additive or for human intake led to elevated dioxin levels in food and humans. Bioanalytical screening in combination with comprehensive physicochemical investigations led to the detection of brominated flame retardants and brominated dioxins in a feed additive. Buffalo milk was contaminated in Italy presumably caused by illegal deposition of waste. High PCB levels in fuel oil for drying of breadcrumb used as a feed ingredient caused a major dioxin crisis with pork meat in Ireland. Fatty acids for technical purposes originating from a biodiesel company were used for production of feed fat which contaminated parts of the food chain in Germany. In addition to effects on human and animal health these incidents also have serious economic consequences which could be mitigated by more frequent control on food and feed. Addressing both these issues, the European Community has developed a strategy to reduce the presence of dioxins and PCBs in the environment and in feed and food comprising the establishment of maximum and action levels.

Identification of the Amidase BbdA That Initiates Biodegradation of the Groundwater Micropollutant 2,6-dichlorobenzamide (BAM) in Aminobacter sp. MSH1.

2,6-dichlorobenzamide (BAM) is a recalcitrant groundwater micropollutant that poses a major problem for drinking water production in European countries. Aminobacter sp. MSH1 and related strains have the unique ability to mineralize BAM at micropollutant concentrations but no information exists on the genetics of BAM biodegradation. An amidase-BbdA-converting BAM to 2,6-dichlorobenzoic acid (DCBA) was purified from Aminobacter sp. MSH1. Heterologous expression of the corresponding bbdA gene and its absence in MSH1 mutants defective in BAM degradation, confirmed its BAM degrading function. BbdA shows low amino acid sequence identity with reported amidases and is encoded by an IncP1-β plasmid (pBAM1, 40.6 kb) that lacks several genes for conjugation. BbdA has a remarkably low KM for BAM (0.71 μM) and also shows activity against benzamide and ortho-chlorobenzamide (OBAM). Differential proteomics and transcriptional reporter analysis suggest the constitutive expression of bbdA in MSH1. Also in other BAM mineralizing Aminobacter sp. strains, bbdA and pBAM1 appear to be involved in BAM degradation. BbdA's high affinity for BAM and its constitutive expression are of interest for using strain MSH1 in treatment of groundwater containing micropollutant concentrations of BAM for drinking water production.

Cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of Eucalyptus globulus short rotation plantations in Chile

Short rotation woody crops appear to be a promising option of biomass for bioethanol production. The traditional short rotation periods for Eucalyptus globulus vary between 8 and 12 years, however intensive forest management practices and genetic improvement have increased the productivity of plantations and reduced the rotation periods up to 5 years. This study aims to assess the potential environmental impacts associated with Chilean short rotation E. globulus plantations for bioenergy production from a Life Cycle Assessment perspective. Thus, for the first time it is presented a detailed life cycle inventory and environmental assessment of a forest system in Latin America. Forest operations carried out over a lifespan of 12 years, with rotation periods of 4 years, were divided into four phases: crop establishment, harvesting, hauling and logistics infrastructure. The managed life cycle inventory included forest site data from a representative plantation dedicated to Eucalyptus chips production for energy purposes, and the inventory of the fuels production in Chile was also determined to fulfil the information requirement. The environmental profile was analysed in terms of several impact categories: climate change, ozone depletion, terrestrial acidification, freshwater y marine eutrophication, photochemical oxidant formation, human toxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, marine ecotoxicity, water depletion and fossil fuel depletion.The harvesting phase was the main contributor to almost all the impact categories with contributing ratios higher than 56%. Within the harvesting phase, fertilisation and forwarding were the main processes responsible for derived environmental impacts. The results in terms of climate change and terrestrial acidification were compared with those reported for Eucalyptus biomass production in European countries. The comparison was performed considering the same system boundaries and functional unit. Differences identified were related to different forest management activities carried out as well as different biomass yields. The LCA study remarked those stages where the researchers need to improve the environmental performance. The results suggested that both fertiliser dosage and fuel consumption in forest activities should be optimised in order to decrease most effectively the global environmental impacts.

Transport Infrastructure and Macroeconomic Performance in European Countries

The share of investment in transport infrastructure of the gross domestic product (GDP) has risen substantially in central and eastern European countries, and the effectiveness of public investment in transport infrastructure to improve economic performance is receiving increasing attention. This paper explores the dynamic impact of transport infrastructure on employment, GDP, exports, and industry production in European countries. With the use of data from 1995 to 2010, the paper analyzes the causality among variables in a dynamic panel framework. The results reveal that transport infrastructure and macroeconomic indicators are cointegrated and a significant unidirectional causal relationship exists from public investment in transport infrastructure to economic performance. The findings of this paper support the traditional notion that an increase in government spending on transport infrastructure contributes to economic growth. More specifically, the paper finds that transport infrastructure is a forcing variable of economic output and exports of European countries. Examination of the economic impacts of transport infrastructure between developed and developing economies shows that economic performance of central and eastern European countries is more sensitive to a change in investment in transport infrastructure than that of Western European countries. A major policy implication of these findings is that expanding transportation infrastructure could be an effective fiscal policy tool to boost economic performance of developing European economies.

Maize pollen foraging by honey bees in relation to crop area and landscape context

The increasing demand for insect pollinated crops and high recent losses of honey bee colonies raise concerns about food security. Systemic insecticides are recognized as one of the drivers of worldwide honey and wild bee declines. Particularly honey bees in agricultural environments are exposed to pesticides when they collect crop pollen and nectar. However, landscape scale studies which analyze pollen use and foraging distances of honey bees on mass-flowering crops like maize to evaluate potential exposure risks are currently lacking. In an experimental approach on a landscape scale we took advantage of intra-colonial dance communication to gather information about the location of utilized pollen resources. During maize flowering, four observation hives were placed in and rotated between 11 different landscapes which covered a gradient from low to high maize acreage. A higher frequency of dances for foraging locations on maize fields compared to other land use types shows that maize is an intensively used pollen resource for honey bee colonies. Mean foraging distances were significantly shorter for maize pollen than for other pollen origins. The percentage of maize pollen foragers did not increase with maize acreage in the landscape. The proportion of grassland area providing alternative pollen sources did not reduce the percentage of maize pollen foragers. Our findings allow estimating the distance-related exposure risk of honey bee colonies to pollen from surrounding maize fields treated with systemic insecticides. Similarly, the results can be used to estimate the exposure to transgenic maize pollen, which is relevant for honey production in European countries. Provision of alternative pollen resources within agri-environmental schemes could potentially reduce exposure risk to pesticide contaminated crop pollen.

Natural aggregates in EU – the production in 1980–2011

Streszczenie Celem pracy było obadanie wielkości produkcji kruszyw naturalnych w krajach Unii Europejskiej na przestrzeni ostatniej dekady. W najnowszej historii rozwoju produkcji kruszyw w krajach euro- pejskich można wyróżnić dwa podstawowe okresy: dcres przedkryzysowy do około 2005 roku i okres zaznaczającego się światowego kryzysu finansowo-gospodarczego po roku 2008. Sektor produkcji kruszyw w Europie wytwarza rocznie około 3 mld Mg kruszyw o wartości około 20 mld euro. Zdecydowana większość kruszyw (około 91%) pochodzi ze złóż naturalnych, w tym kruszywa łamane - 50,0%, a kruszywa żwirowo-piaskowe -141,0%. Na pozostałą część składają się kruszywa pochodzące z recyklingu (około 5%) oraz kruszywa morskie i sztuczne (po około 2%). Przemysł kruszyw w Europie obejmuje około 17 tys. firm pozyskujących kruszywo w około 29 tys. kopalń i odkrywek, zatrudniając bezpośrednio i pośrednio około 280 tys. osób. Przeprowadzona analiza wykazała przede wszystkim, że w Unii Europejskiej oraz w krajach stowarzyszonych z UEPG ilość wytwarzanych kruszyw w poszczególnych krajach wykazuje zmienne tendencje, zarówno wzrostowe jak i spadkowe, a w znacznej grupie krajów pozostaje na mniej więcej stałym poziomie. Obraz ten został jednak zakłócony światowym kryzysem ekonomicznym, w wyniku którego produkcja kruszyw w większości krajów europejskich uległa po 2008 reku zmniejszeniu i niestety, tendencja ta trwa nadal chociaż z różnym natężeniem. Na tym tle Polska wyróżnia się korzystnie z systematycznie rosnącą (do roku 2011) produkcją kruszyw. Średnia europejska produkcji kruszyw na mieszkańca wynosiła w 2011 około 5,8 Mg/osobę i w porównaniu do 2006 roku (7 Mg mieszkańca) opadła o ponad 17%. W Polsce w latach 2006-2011 produkcja kruszyw wzrosła z około4,4 Mgósobę do 9,1 Mg/o»bę, a więc o około 107%. Duży wpływ miała na to rekordowa produkcja kruszyw w 2011 roku w ilości 345 min Mg (wzrost w porównaniu do 2010 r o 36,9%).

Americanised, Europeanised or nationalised? The film industry in Europe under the influence of Hollywood, 1927–1968

In most film histories of the twentieth century Hollywood's dominance has been indisputable. Apparently, European filmmakers were always facing one choice: either imitating the American style or finding a niche in the Hollywood system. This dominance is often referred to as evidence for an ‘Americanisation’ of popular culture in Europe. This article shows that this narrative leaves out a central development between 1927 and 1968: the nationalisation of popular European cinema. The paper asks which conditions facilitated and shaped national film cultures and shows how the political regulation of production in European countries, the momentum of the market, technology and the national industries contributed to the nationalisation of European film. Ultimately, however, the productions of these national cinemas resonated with audiences who sustained them for years following the Second World War.

A Spatial Autoregressive Production Frontier Model for Panel Data: With an Application to European Countries

In this paper we merge techniques from the e¢ ciency literature with spatial econometric techniques. In particular, we combine calculation of e¢ ciency from the unit speci…c eects with the spatial autoregressive model to develop a spatial autoregressive frontier model for panel data. Features of the modeling include time-varying e¢ ciency and estimation of own and spillover returns to scale. The model is applied to aggregate production in European countries over the period 1995 2008. Among other things, we …nd that production in the sample average country is characterized by increasing returns to scale when we allow for returns to scale spillovers from other countries, and constant returns when these spillovers

The Effects of Efficiency and TFP Growth on Nitrogen and Sulphur Emissions in Europe: A Multistage Spatial Analysis

It is common in …rm level environmental e¢ ciency studies for pollution to form part of the production technology. We omit nitrogen and sulphur emissions from the spatial analysis of production in European countries (1995 2008) because we …nd they are not signi…cant inputs. E¢ ciency and TFP growth from the production analysis are then used in second stage spatial models of nitrogen and sulphur emissions in European countries. We …nd that to cut European sulphur emissions by a certain percentage requires a decrease in a composite measure of a country’s e¢ ciency and TFP growth which is more than double the decrease needed to reduce European nitrogen emissions by the same percentage.

The role of the pharmacist in …: Sports Medicine

In this contribution, I summarize recent trends of cannabis use in Europe and their public health implications. The first trend refers to an increase of treatment demand for cannabis problems by 76% while prevalence of cannabis use remained largely stable in the same period, based on available data. There are good reasons to assume that this trend reflects increases in the prevalence of cannabis use disorders, however, data to support this claim are not available. Potential drivers for a rising prevalence of cannabis use disorders comprise changes in consumption patterns and increasing levels of THC in available cannabis products. While an increasing prevalence of cannabis use disorders seem likely, the estimates of the Global Burden of Disease studies suggest the opposite. The second trend refers to an emerging market for cannabidiol (CBD) products in European countries, where regulations on CBD are lacking. Given the lack of data on users of CBD products, it can hardly be assessed if current abstainers will initiate using other cannabis products after trying CBD products for medicinal or recreational purposes. However, regulations should be implemented and enforced in order to make CBD products safer for consumers, for instance by ensuring reliable potency levels and by reducing the presence of toxic substances through quality control measures. In summary, a substantial transition of the epidemiology of cannabis use is under way, accompanied by changes in potency, treatment demand and new products. In order to assess the public health implications of this transition, data on population exposure of specific cannabinoids are required.