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The evaluation of cultural ecosystem services based on the exploration of social values (SV) is a powerful tool to describe visitors’ perceptions of a natural landscape. A natural setting in the southwest of Mexico City lacks effective management due to insufficient understanding of visitors’ behavior and their interactions with natural resources. We profiled two visitor groups, rock climbers and non-rock climbers, assessed the SV they ascribed to a popular natural recreational park, and explored associations between SV and particular landscape features. Data collection was based on field observations, questionnaires, and a photograph-based approach. Cross tabulations, chi-square tests, and basic map algebra were used to process data. Results showed statistical differences between the two visitor groups concerning park use, but not in the perception of SV. The main SV people ascribe to the park are natural, recreational, and productive values, although results differ depending on the location of the park. Landscape features such as forest cover, remoteness, elevation, and rock formations are strongly interlinked to specific SV. This study can contribute towards an understanding of differentiated park use and perceptions of cultural ecosystem services by visitor groups. This can be integrated into management plans for recreational parks in Mexico.

Diverse demands for contemporary forest management require greater consideration to cultural ecosystem services. Given the circumstances, understanding how forest elements are perceived can provide...

Objective To investigate the effects of dopamine on the adverse pulmonary changes after cardiopulmonary bypass. Design A prospective, nonrandomized clinical investigation. Setting A university hospital. Participants One hundred fifty-seven patients who underwent elective cardiac surgery that required cardiopulmonary bypass. Interventions Fifty-two patients were administered intravenous infusion of dopamine (3 µg/kg/min) for five minutes after weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass; no intervention was applied in the other 105 patients. Measurements and Main Results Measurements were performed under general anesthesia and mechanical ventilation before cardiopulmonary bypass, after cardiopulmonary bypass, and after the intervention. In each protocol stage, forced oscillatory lung impedance was measured to assess airway and tissue mechanical changes. Mainstream capnography was performed to assess ventilation- and/or perfusion-matching by calculating the normalized phase-3 slopes of the time and volumetric capnograms and the physiologic deadspace. Arterial and central venous blood samples were analyzed to characterize lung oxygenation and intrapulmonary shunt. After cardiopulmonary bypass, dopamineinduced marked improvements in airway resistance and tissue damping, with relatively small decreases in lung tissue elastance. These changes were associated with decreases in the normalized phase-3 slopes of the time and volumetric capnograms. The inotrope had no effect on physiologic deadspace, intrapulmonary shunt, or lung oxygenation. Conclusion Dopamine reversed the complex detrimental lung mechanical changes induced by cardiopulmonary bypass and alleviated ventilation heterogeneities without affecting the physiologic deadspace or intrapulmonary shunt. Therefore, dopamine has a potential benefit on the gas exchange abnormalities after weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass.

Background: To evaluate the monthly incidence rate of patients with diabetes requiring heart surgery at a tertiary-care university hospital in East-Central Europe with a temperate climate zone. We also assessed whether additional factors affecting small blood vessels (smoking, aging, and diabetes) modulate the seasonal variability of diabetes.Methods: Medical records were retrospectively analyzed for all 9837 consecutive adult patients who underwent surgery at our institution between 2007 and 2018. Individual seasonal variations of diabetes, smoking, and elderly patients were analyzed monthly. Potential additive or subtractive effects of the coexistence of these factors in seasonal changes in incidence rates were also examined. In the absence of a waiting list, incidence rates accurately reflect the frequency of exacerbation of cardiovascular symptoms requiring surgical intervention.Results: Significant seasonal variations in the monthly incidence rate of diabetes (p < 0.02), smoking (p < 0.001), and elderly (p < 0.001) patients were observed at the cardiac surgery unit. The peak incidence of non-elderly and smoking patients with diabetes was during winter, whereas heart surgery in elderly patients without diabetes and smoking was most frequently required in summer. Concomitant occurrence of diabetes and smoking had an additive effect on the relative incidence rate of requirement for cardiac surgery (p < 0.001), while the simultaneous presence of older age and diabetes or smoking eliminated seasonal variations.Conclusions: Scheduling regular cardiovascular control in accordance with periodicities in diabetes, elderly, and smoking patients more than once a year may improve patient health and social consequences.Trial registration: NCT03967639

Due to increase in demand for fossil fuels and aspects of natural environment protection, there is a major need to utilize alternative and renewable energy sources in order to promote sustainable development. The use of biogas as a source of renewable energy could provide effective and alternative way to satisfy a remarkable part of this demand for the transportation sector. As biogas has high inert content of carbon dioxide, its heating value is lower compared to CNG. Applying these low heating value renewable gaseous fuels for means of transport is not fully worked out yet because their combustion characteristics significantly differ from liquid fuels that are currently used or propane, or natural gas based systems that are becoming more and more popular in transportation. Biogas is not in common use, thus its utilization is recently limited for engines with conventional equipment burning other fuels. Thus, theoretical and experimental analysis was made to investigate the usability of biogas. On the basis of conducted investigation, it was found that effective biogas utilization as a fuel for means of transport can be achieved in a serial hybrid system consisted of internal combustion reciprocating engine.

Due to an increase in demand for energy and the mobility of the human population as well as in order to keep sustainable development, there is a major need to utilize alternative energy sources. The use of biogases as a source of renewable energy could provide an effective and alternative way to fulfil a remarkable part of this demand for energy. As biogases have high inert content, their heating value is low. The energetic utilization of these low heating value renewable gaseous fuels is not fully worked out yet because their combustion characteristics significantly differ from the liquid fuels that are used nowadays in transportation, and in this way, they are not usable or their utilization is limited in devices with conventional equipment. Thus, theoretical and experimental analysis was made to investigate the usability of biogases. First published online: 24 Jun 2011

Due to increasing energy demand from the human population and in order to keep the development sustainable there is a major need to utilize alternative energy sources. The use of biogases as a source of renewable energy for combined heat and power generation could provide an effective and alternative way to fulfil remarkable part of this energy demand as a possible solution of decentralized power generation. Therefore the role of utilization of biogases grows rapidly in Europe and all around the world. As biogases have a high inert content, their heating value is low. The energetic utilization of these low heating value renewable gaseous fuels is not fully worked out yet because their combustion characteristics differ significantly from those of natural gases, and in this way they are not usable or their utilization in conventional devices is limited. At the Department of Energy Engineering of BME in cooperation with the Szolnok University College Technical and Agricultural Faculty investigation was made to d etermine the energetic usability of biogases. At Szolnok University experiments were made to increase the quantity and quality of biogas produced from different kind of basic materials and mixtures and at the Department of Energy Engineering of Budapest University of Technology and Economics the IC Engine utilization of biogases was investigated. The power, efficiency, consumption and exhaust emission were measured and in-cylinder pressure data acquisition was made to determine the pressure and heat release in the cylinder at various engine working conditions and CO_2 contents.