Publications
NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.
2021
Authors
Vibeke Lind Angela Dagmar Schwarm Marcello Mele Alice Cappucci Giulia Foggi Özge Sizmaz Eleni Tsiplakou Alberto Stanislao Atzori Joni Van Mullem Nico PeirenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Diana Saplacan Weria Khaksar Jim TørresenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Diana Saplacan Weria Khaksar Jim TørresenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Diana Saplacan Weria Khaksar Jim TørresenAbstract
This paper presents some of the ethical challenges that current care robots raise in home- and healthcare services for senior adults (≥65 years). The paper is grounded in some of the state-of-the-art projects within the area of care robotics.Further, the paper identifies and discusses several central challenges raised by using robots as part of care services for the elderly people. The paper contributes to the ethical debate on the implications care robots may have for the practical context of healthcare. In addition, the paper summarizes the main lines of the EU legal approach to AI robotic technology, offering a comprehensive picture of the existing regulatory, theoretical and research gaps, compelling the need of an interdisciplinary ethical reflection on care robots. Finally, the discussion is then balanced by some of the opportunities the care robots may provide for the care services.
Abstract
Computer models use symbols in various ways adapted from mathematics, computer science, engineering and the natural sciences. Model applications in ecology often seek to represent future states of ecosystems, a task that has been difficult to achieve. Reflection upon the role of symbols in these models may help to disentangle the various sources and contributions to these perceptions of the environment. The modi of time (past, present, future) are here represented by corresponding forms of modelling as narration, performance, and simulation. All three occur in ecological modelling, and transitions between them may be indicative of modelling limits. Given the difficulties of representing the future of ecosystems and finding relevant analogies in the history of ecosystem use, the most challenging task for contemporary ecological models is to perform appropriately with respect to (Big) monitoring Data. We use an analogy between an environmental crisis in natural history and the current Anthropocene to demonstrate the limits of symbols in modelling which are intended to provide an abstract representation. A shift in emphasis on the engineering and computational aspect is proposed for organizing a sustainable human-environment relationship in the Anthropocene.
Authors
Leticia Regueiro Richard Newton Mohamed Soula Diego Méndez Björn Kok David C. Little Roberto Pastres Johan Johansen Martiña FerreiraAbstract
EU aquaculture produces only a small fraction of the internal demand of aquatic foods, but boosting this activity must be done in compliance with high standards of environmental protection and social benefits, as fostered by the policies on circular economy recently launched by the EU. Nevertheless, the assessment of the environmental sustainability of aquaculture and other food production systems is complex, due to the different tools and approaches available. Moreover, the current EU regulatory framework may be restricting the options to implement some circular solutions. This paper examines the controversies related to the assessment of environmental impacts of aquaculture processes and the different available circular solutions, with a focus on the best options to valorize aquaculture side streams and how current regulatory burdens and gaps should be solved.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Jan-David WackerAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Dmitry KechasovAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
In regions with intensive agricultural production, large amounts of organic waste are produced by livestock animals. Liquid digestate from manure-based biogas production could potentially serve as fertilizer if integrated with closed horticultural irrigation systems. The aim of this experiment was to investigate how fertilizer based on liquid biogas by-products of pig manure digestion can affect the growth and production of tomato plants. Integration of a nitrification bioreactor presumes a significantly lower concentration of nutrient solutions and a higher level of oxygenation than classical mineral cultivation. Therefore, additional controls were included. We compared plant growth and fruit quality traits of tomato plants grown in a hydroponic solution with organic fertilizer with two levels of mineral fertilizer. The tomatoes grown with organic waste-based liquid fertilizer showed reduced growth rates but increased mean fruit size, resulting in no significant change in total yield compared with high-mineral cultivation. The growth rate was similarly reduced in plants cultivated with low-mineral fertilizer. Plants cultivated with organic waste-based fertilizer had high Cl− concentration in xylem sap, leaves, and, ultimately, fruits. The leaves of plants cultivated with organic waste-based fertilizer contained higher concentrations of starch and soluble carbohydrate and low concentrations of phosphorous (P) and sulfur (S). The plants grown with organic waste-based or low-mineral medium showed significantly poorer fruit quality than the plants cultivated with the high-mineral solution. The low-mineral treatment increased xylem sap contribution to fruit weight because of higher root power. The organic waste-based fertilization did not change the root power but increased fruit size. In conclusion, organic waste-based cultivation is a possible solution for sustainable plant production in greenhouses. However, additional adjustment of nutrient supply is required to improve fruit quality.