Life Cycle Assessment of Wood Floor Coverings - A Representative Study for the German Flooring Industry (11 pp)

Goal, Scope and Background The goal of the study is a life cycle assessment according to ISO 14040 –14043 for wood floor coverings (solid parquet, multilayer parquet, solid floor board and wood blocks). The representative study covers approximately 70% of all wood flooring production in Germany. The comparison of the floor coverings among each other was not the aim. Instead the study provides basic data for all wood floor coverings for a possible comparison with other floor coverings later on. The main focus was a hot spot analysis to help the involved industry partners to improve their environmental performance, and to use the results for marketing purposes. - Inventory Analysis. The study covers the whole life cycle from forest management, sawmilling, manufacturing, laying and surface finishing through to refurbishment and end-of-life. The end-of-life scenario is the thermal utilisation of the floor coverings. The energy gained in the end-of-life scenario is accounted for by system expansion (avoided burden approach). - Impact Assessment. In the Impact Assessment the following categories were considered: global warming (GWP), acidification (AP), eutrophication (EP), ozone depletion (ODP) and photo-oxidant formation (POCP) following the CML baseline 2000 method. Furthermore the use of primary energy is presented. The low emissions of greenhouse gases during the life cycle can lead to a negative contribution to the global warming potential if more emissions are avoided through the substitution process than are emitted during the life cycle of the product. Mainly energy consumption and the use of solvents influence the environmental impacts of the systems under analysis. The most relevant unit processes for the issue of energy consumption are 'production' and for photo-oxidant formation 'laying', 'surface finishing' and 'refurbishment'. These are therefore the unit processes with the greatest potential for improvement. - Normalisation and Sensitivity Analysis. The normalisation results show that the photo-oxidant formation potential is most significant in comparison to the other impact categories. Improvement options and the choice of the functional unit have been further explored in a sensitivity analysis. Discussion and Conclusions. The most important opportunities for improvements are located in the unit processes laying, surface finishing and refurbishment. The POCP result can be reduced significantly depending on the choice of glue and varnish at each of these stages. The results of the sensitivity analysis showed a potential for improvement in this category. No data for the production of an oil and wax finish was available. This option would be interesting to consider at in a further study. The time aspect of storing CO2 for a period of time is not considered in this paper, but will be addressed in a forthcoming paper (Nebel and Cowell 2003).     

Environmental life cycle assessment of linoleum

Linoleum is a floor covering consisting mainly of linseed oil, other vegetable oils, wood flour and limestone on a carrier of jute. Forbo-Krommenie B.V. commissioned the Centre of Environmental Science (CML) to carry out an Environmental Life Cycle Assessment for linoleum floors. The goal of this study was to assess the environmental performance of linoleum floors, indicating possible options for improvement, and assessing the sensitivity of the results to methodological choices. The functional unit was defined as: 2000 m² linoleum produced in 1998, used in an office or public building over a period of 20 years. The method followed in this study is based on a nearly final draft version of the LCA guide published by CML in corporation with many others, which is an update of the guide on LCA of 1992. From the contribution analysis, the main contributing processes became clear. In addition, the sensitivity analysis by scenarios showed that the type of maintenance during use and the pigments used can have a large influence on the results. Major data gaps of the study were capital goods and unknown chemicals. Sensitivity analysis also showed that these gaps can lead to an underestimation. Based on this study, some options to improve the environmental performance of linoleum were formulated and advice for further LCA studies on linoleum was given.     

Life cycle assessment of water-based acrylic floor finish maintenance programs

Aim, Scope, and Background Industrial and institutional (I and I) floor maintenance activities require regular use of chemical products and equipment. Different floor care systems require different maintenance products, activities, and frequencies which consume different levels of energy and material for product manufacturing, maintenance, and application. Therefore, selecting between floor maintenance products and programs requires comprehensive analysis of the entire floor maintenance system as well as any site-specific factors that can influence human and environmental health. In this paper, a probabilistic model for comparing the environmental life cycle implications of I and I floor maintenance programs is presented. The primary interest is in comparing programs that use different water-based acrylic floor finishes and in particular, programs using zinc-containing floor finishes compared to zinc-free floor finish systems. Zinc, used in some acrylic polymers as a polymer cross-linking agent, is regulated in some communities to minimize its impact on the aquatic environment. Method The life cycle assessment (LCA) model was developed in compliance with the ISO 14040 series of standards [1]. Furthermore, uncertain input variables were defined as probabilistic distributions and Latin Hypercube Sampling was used to propagate uncertainty through the model. The scope of the study includes the full life cycle of the materials, supplies, equipment, and activities associated with performing floor maintenance. The effects of maintaining higher lighting and temperature levels while performing floor maintenance are estimated using building energy system analysis. The life cycle inventory (LCI) element of the LCA was developed using product-specific data, publicly available data, and established life cycle inventory databases. Life cycle impact assessment was conducted using the Eco-Indicator 99 [2] and Impact 2002+ [3,4] impact assessment methods. Results Two floor maintenance scenarios were developed and analyzed to compare the environmental impact of programs using zinc-containing and zinc-free floor finishes. The results discussed herein are presented for a hypothetical retail store located in the Midwest region of the United States. Given the scenarios examined, zinc-free floor finish systems reduced the release of zinc ions to the environment, but the overall impact in all life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) categories was greater for the zincfree floor finish system primarily due to the increased frequency of maintenance. Discussion The impacts associated with operating the facility were orders of magnitude higher than those associated with producing or using floor care products, supplies, or equipment. This leads to the conclusion that for critical impacts, floor care product development should focus research efforts on innovative products that reduce application and maintenance time if significant reduction in these impacts is sought. Conclusions Adopting a stochastic modeling approach enabled incorporation of parameter uncertainty and analysis of uncertainty in model results. In the scenario shown here, the magnitude of overall impact in all LCIA categories was greater for the zinc-free floor finish system than the zinc-containing floor finish system. Perspectives Use of decision modeling software provided flexibility for developing scenarios and assessing floor maintenance programs under various operational and site-specific conditions.     

Life cycle inventory for electric energy system in Brazil

Goal, Scope and Background  

The goal of this paper is to present the modeling of life cycle inventory (LCI) for electric energy production and delivery in Brazil for the reference year 2000 by application of ISO 14040. Site specific data along with sector production data have been combined to construct an energy production model, which has been applied to emissions estimation. Background-data of all the inputs and outputs from the system have been inventoried as follows: gross electric energy generation, installed nameplate capacity, flooded area, losses, emissions to air / water, process waste, used fuel, efficiency and land use.     

A building sector related procedure to assess the relevance of the usage phase

Intention, Goal, Scope, Background  Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) are increasingly used in the building sector as a decision-support tool in the design phase of buildings to enable environmentally sound choices of materials and products. The practice in Europe of today regarding product choices is mainly based on cradle to gate LCAs and is quite commonly disregarding the usage phase. The main reason for this is the fragmented structure of the building sector in which the application of specific materials and products is unknown to the manufacturer. The environmental information supplied by the manufacturers to the designers of buildings only relates to the production phase, limited to typical cradle to gate data. A specific material or product choice can however have a considerable impact during the usage phase. Predicting the magnitude of an environmental load originating in the usage phase, as the result of a building product can in some cases be based on information on both product- and building level. To date there are no structured procedures for the inclusion of this information in LCA-studies, even-though it is desirable to include the full product life cycle when including environmental parameters in a product choice. Objective  A procedure for assessing the relevance and the possibility to include the usage phase in a structured way is proposed. Considerable effort has also been put into explaining the underlying obstacles of today’s practice in handling the connection between the choice of building products and its resulting impacts in the usage phase. Methods  The proposed procedure is primary based on experiences and findings from a comprehensive study on maintenance of floor coverings, together with an inventory of the state of the art regarding LCA in the building sector. Results and Discussion  The procedure is divided into two steps where the first step is a preliminary estimate of the relevance of the usage phase in a building product comparison. Based on this step, step two can be entered. Step two is a judgement of the possibility to quantify the potential environmental loads that can occur in the usage phase. For step one, four different types of sources of potential environmental loads have been found; emissions from the product to the indoor environment, emissions from the product to the outdoor environment, influence on the resource flow in a building, and finally the demands for maintenance, leading to other recurring loads. For step two, the focus in this article is on maintenance, for which a model structure is proposed as a base for the development of a model to estimate the environmental loads. The three other sources of environmental loads are handled more briefly. Conclusions  The usage phase should to a larger extend be regarded in a product choice situation, when LCA is used as a tool. First, the relevance of including the usage phase should be assessed. Second, the possibility to estimate the environmental loads should be considered. The reason for an exclusion of the usage phase should more clearly be explained, if it is due to lack of relevance or data/models. Recommendation and Outlook  The proposed procedure shall be regarded as a way to obtain preliminary estimates of the relevance and possibilities to include the usage phase in a product choice situation. Thereby, the handling of the usage phase by the suggested procedure is not a method for estimating the environmental loads but rather a procedure for an inventory of the relevance and possibility to estimate the environmental loads.     

Life cycle assessment comparison among different reuse intensities for industrial wooden containers

Goal, scope and background  The industrial packages sector has great importance for the transport sector in Europe. These containers, mainly wooden pallets and spools, are subject to European legislation, which promotes their reuse and recycling. This study uses life cycle assessment (LCA) to assess the environmental impact of the current management system in this sector and the benefits and drawbacks of different reuse intensities as a waste prevention strategy as opposed to the recycling option. Materials and methods  In this paper, four case studies located in Spain and representative of the wooden package sector in Europe are analysed: high reuse pallet, low reuse pallet, low reuse spool and null reuse spool. For the LCA study cases, the functional unit is that required to satisfy the transport necessity of 1,000 t by road. The impact and energy consumption assessment methods used are CML 2 Baseline 2000 and Cumulative Energy Demand. Data are mostly provided by the leading enterprises and organisations in this sector. Results  The paper provides, as a first result, a comprehensive inventory of the systems under study. Secondly, our assessment shows that the systems with higher reuse intensity show a reduction in energy and wood consumption and all the environmental impact categories except for the global warming potential from 34.0% to 81.0% in the pallet study cases and from 50.4% to 72.8% in the spool ones. This reduction is at the expense of the maintenance stage, which on the contrary increases its impact, although it is still relatively small—less than 7% in all the impact categories and flow indicators of the study cases. The highest impact stages are transport, raw material extraction and the process chain. The final disposal and maintenance stages are the lowest impact, contributing at most to less than 30% of the impact in the pallet study cases and 10% in the spool cases. Discussion  Wood consumption (WC), directly related to the number of containers needed to satisfy the functional unit, is the main factor in determining the impact of the stages, especially in the raw materials extraction and process chain stages, assuming that these are undertaken with the same technologies in all the case studies. Other variables, such as the management system, the maintenance index and the final disposal scenario, affect the impact of the remaining stages: transport, maintenance and final disposal. The global warming potential results obtained demonstrate the environmental benefits of using containers made of a renewable resource such as wood instead of using other materials, but these results are not expected to prioritise the lower reuse systems because of their better performance in this category. Conclusions  Reuse, a strategy capable of reducing the environmental impacts of the wooden container systems, is preferable to recycling, while the package maintenance tasks are still feasible. Therefore, reuse, combined with recycling as final disposal, should be encouraged to reduce the demand for natural resources and the waste generated. Recommendations  Based on these results, attention should be paid to the maintenance stage, which, being the lowest-impact one, could substantially reduce the impact of the remaining stages.     

Methodology for a comparative evaluation of sensitivity to fouling and cleanability of floor materials used in the food industry

Samples of floor materials used at present in different types of food plants were studied for their sensitivity to fouling and for their cleaning properties. A cleaning procedure close to that used in industry was carried out on seven different floor samples fouled with six industrial soils (e.g. green salad soil, reconstituted milk, and meat) and inoculated with spores of Bacillus stearothermophilus var. calidolactis as tracer. Sensitivity to fouling and the cleanability of the different floor materials were measured, and the results showed a significant difference between them. These differences were dependent upon the type of soil. Sensitivity to fouling and cleanability were not correlated with their slipping resistance characteristics.     

Life cycle assessment study on resilient floor coverings

Fourteen European producers of resilient floor coverings examined thirty-two objects of their products in a Life Cycle Assessment Study. The product groups were PVC, cushioned PVC, polyolefin, rubber and linoleum, with one reference example from textile and parquet. Important results include the following:

? There is no material specific ranking for ‘best’ or ‘worst’ environmental performance. Differences within the material groups - depending on the individual formula - are larger than between the groups.

? The introduction of material-specific recycling for used floorings as well as the use of recycled material in the flooring production could reduce environmental loads significantly.

? The premature change of a flooring by the user may induce a major influence on the environmental performance of a flooring.

     

Phylogenetic position and morphology of Raphidiophrys elongata sp. nov. (Haptista: Centroplasthelida) with notes on cyst wall structure and evolution

The majority of centrohelids bear external coverings consisting of organic spicules or siliceous scales. Cyst coverings are usually reinforced with additional layers of modified scales. The cyst wall of Raphidiophrys heterophryoidea has an unusual and complex structure. It consists of three different types of scales and includes the mosaic scale layer not known in other centrohelids. During excystment, the cyst wall fragments along the sutures of the mosaic layer. For other Raphidiophrys species, cyst coverings are not studied. The present paper describes a new Raphidiophrys species, R. elongata, belonging to the NC7 environmental clade. Trophozoites bore thin plate scales with reduced upper plate. Under starvation, cysts emerged in clonal cultures. Cyst coverings of R. elongata and R. heterophryoidea were studied in comparison with the use of FIB-SEM. Cyst wall of R. elongata was significantly thinner than in R. heterophryoidea and was formed with 3–5 layers of uniform overlapping scales. No mosaic scale layer was present. During excystment, trophozoite exited cyst shell through random fissure. Possible evolutionary events and driving forces behind the complication of cyst wall within Raphidiophrys were discussed.     

盆底肌肉康复训练联合盆底重建术对女性盆底功能障碍性疾病患者炎症反应及应激反应的影响

目的:观察盆底肌肉康复训练联合盆底重建术治疗女性盆底功能障碍性疾病(PFD)的疗效及对炎症反应及应激反应的影响。方法:选择2019年1月~2021年1月期间我院收治的PFD患者200例,按乱数表法分为对照组(100例)和研究组(100例)。对照组患者接受盆底重建术治疗,研究组患者接受盆底肌肉康复训练联合盆底重建术治疗。观察两组治疗后的疗效及术后并发症发生情况,对比两组相关量表评分、炎症反应及应激反应指标。结果:研究组治疗后盆底功能影响问卷简表(PFIQ-7)、盆底不适调查表简表(PFDI-20)评分低于对照组(P<0.05)。研究组治疗后盆底Ⅰ类肌纤维肌电压、盆底Ⅱ类肌纤维肌电压高于对照组(P<0.05)。研究组治疗后白介素-6(IL-6)、肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α)、超敏C反应蛋白(hs-CRP)低于对照组(P<0.05)。研究组治疗后皮质醇(COR)、去甲肾上腺素(NE)、前列腺素E2(PGE2)低于对照组(P<0.05)。研究组术后并发症发生率低于对照组(P<0.05)。结论:盆底肌肉康复训练联合盆底重建术治疗PFD,可促进盆底功能恢复,减轻机体炎症反应及应激反应,降低术后并发症发生率。     

Recycling of aluminum can in terms of Life Cycle Inventory (LCI)

Background, Aims and Scope  Life Cycle Assessment is a technique for evaluating the environmental performance of a given product by: identifying and quantifying the energy and raw materials used in its manufacturing process, as well as the emissions of pollutants to water, soil, and air inherent in this production, use and disposal, and evaluating the environmental impact associated with the use of energy and materials and the emissions of pollutants, thus identifying opportunities to improve the system in order to optimize the environmental performance of the product. CETEA (Packaging Technology Center) has conducted a Life Cycle Assessment — LCA study of aluminum can with emphasis in life cycle inventory, collecting data for the reference years 2000–2002. The goal of this paper is to present part of this complete study, focusing the influence of aluminium recycling rate on the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) of aluminum beverage cans in Brazil. Methods  The adopted methodology was based on the recommendations of SETAC — Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry and the ISO 14040 Standard, approved by the Sub-Committee 05 of the Environmental Administration Technical Committee, TC-207, from ISO — INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION [1,2]. Data storage and modeling were performed by employing the PIRA Environmental Management System — PEMS [3]. Results  Taking into account the impact categories adopted in this study, it has been shown that recycling helps to improve the aluminium can environmental profile measured as LCI data. Discussion  For the transformed aluminium products, the recycling rate affects the values of the environmental parameters inventoried, but not in the same proportion, since the contribution of other stages of the product system life cycle and the recycling process remain unchanged, including the yield of this process. In general, the recycling balance is always positive due to the importance of the stages that precede the packaging production and the problem of increasing the municipal waste volume. Conclusions  The advantages of the recycling are obviously concentrated on the inventoried parameters related to the primary aluminum production and to the package disposal. The verified benefits of the recycling increase with the recycling rate enhancement. However, the effects on the inventory do not have the same magnitude of the recycling rate. This happens due to the relative contributions of the other life cycle stages, such as the transportation and sheet or can production. In agreement with the presented results, it is possible to conclude that the aluminum can recycling reduces part of the consumption of natural resources and the emissions associated to the stages previous to the production of the packaging. The parameters specifically related to the stage of aluminum production suffer reduction directly proportional to the increase of the recycling rate. In this way, all of the efforts made to increase the recycling rate will have a positive contribution to the LCI of the aluminum can. Recommendations  It is worth pointing out that LCA studies are iterative and dynamic. The data can always be refined, substituted or complemented with updated information in order to improve the representativeness of the analyzed sector. Perspectives  From this study, the aluminum sector in Brazil is able to quantify the benefits of future actions for environmental improvement of the Brazilian aluminum industry, as well as to contribute technically to Environmental Labeling initiatives regarding aluminum products. ESS-Submission Editor: Alain Dubreuil (dubreuil@nrcan.gc.ca)     

Ecology profile of the german high-speed rail passenger transport system,ICE

Intention, Goal, Scope, Background, Objectives  Environmental effects caused by the railway transport services have rarely been investigated in depth from a systemic point of view. A screening LCA, called ecology profile, of the German high-speed passenger train system, the ICE, is presented here, based on a study conducted by the University of Halle and the Deutsche Bahn AG, the major German rail operator. In this study, the resource consumption caused by traction, manufacturing and maintenance of ICE trains, as well as construction and operation of the supporting rail infrastructure and buildings, have been evaluated using cumulative energy demand (CED), cumulative material input per service unit (MIPS) and CO₂ emissions as indicators. Methods  Approximately 200 items of inventory data were collected from DB AG experts, manufacturers, site balances and the associated literature. They were allocated in order to derive 100-person-kilometre-related mass and energy consumption figures. The appropriate CED, MIPS and CO₂ factors were applied in order to quantify the indirect efforts associated with the inventory data. Conclusions  For the reference high-speed route investigated, Hanover-Wuerzburg, the railroad infrastructure does not contribute the high share of resource consumption to the life cycle of the transport service which was expected from other studies. For the reference route, the CED of the infrastructure contributes 13% to the total CED per 100 person kilometres, whilst the energy demand of the traction process dominates the life cycle. Within the railway infrastructure, the construction of tunnels and the heating of rail points during winter time are significant primary-energy active components, whereas the energy requirement for maintaining the railway stations is a minor factor in comparison. The environmental impact of new technologies for designing rail tracks have also been analysed. The new ballastless slab track technology investigated needs higher absolute resource inputs in the construction phase compared with the traditional gravel bed, but due to higher life expectancy, it competes favourably at the 100-person-kilometre level, at least in terms of material requirements. Efforts to reduce the traction energy consumption of the ICE train will have the greatest impact on the CED of the transport system. In summary, a total of 48 kg of solid primary resources are needed for a passenger to travel 100 km by ICE. Recommendations/Outlook  The results presented can be used for modelling other high-speed railway transport systems. A comparison of the ecology profiles of the German, French and Japanese high-speed train systems would be of interest in order to identify potential areas for improvement. Additional studies are needed to evaluate the short-hop, commuter train service. Further efforts should be directed to comparing the infrastructure of the high speed train and that of highway road traffic.     

Diversity of plants in cocoa agroforests in the humid forest zone of Southern Cameroon

In the humid forest zone of Southern Cameroon, farmers generally associate cocoa with native and exotic trees in complex agroforestry systems. Despite the socio-economic and ecological importance of these systems, few studies have investigated their plant composition. We investigated tree composition of cocoa agroforests along a gradient of market access, population density and resource use intensity in the humid forest zone of southern Cameroon, comprising (i) the sub-region of Yaoundé, (ii) the sub-region of Mbalmayo, and (iii) the sub-region of Ebolowa. Market access, population density and resource use intensity all decreased from the first to the third sub-region. We quantified the diversity of tree species associated with cocoa within individual agroforests, among agroforests in the same region, and among the three sub-regions, and classified the tree species according to their main uses. A total of 9.1 ha belonging to 60 cocoa agroforests were inventoried in 12 villages. We encountered a total of 206 tree species with an average of 21 tree species per agroforest. In the more urbanized area around Yaoundé, agroforests were less diverse than in the other sub-regions. In all of the agroforests, food producing tree species tended to be more frequent than other species. Two thirds of the food trees were native forest species and one third was introduced. From Ebolowa to Yaoundé, the density of food producing trees doubled and the density of exotic food-producing species increased relative to native species. Some local species producing high-value non-timber forest products were found in the agroforests, but their density was far lower than that of exotic tree species. The agroforests also provide medicine, charcoal and other products for household consumption and sale. We conclude that unless there are specific efforts to promote local forest tree species in cocoa agroforests, these will progressively lose importance with increasing market access, population pressure and land use intensity.     

Inventory analysis of the timber industry in Ghana

Background, aim, and scope  

The timber sector, i.e., forestry and timber industry, plays an important role in the socioeconomic development of Ghana through timber products export. Timber production in this sector is associated with increasing environmental burdens in terms of use of materials and energy, production of emissions and waste, and land use changes. The purpose of this study was to compile a comprehensive life cycle inventory (LCI) to identify the most dominant environmental pressures for five major production lines in the timber industry, and to evaluate the influence of the choice of the functional unit on the results (1 m³, 1 kg, and 1 euro). LCA’s of wood typically base their functional unit on volume, but mass or money may be more appropriate for the rather different products considered in this study.     

Life cycle inventory of energy production in ArcelorMittal steel power plant Poland S.A. in Krakow,Poland

Purpose  

The goal of this paper is to describe the life cycle inventory (LCI) approach of energy produced by ArcelorMittal Steel Power Plant Poland (AMSPPP) in Krakow, Poland. The present LCI is representative for the reference year 2005 by application of ISO 14040: 2006. The system boundaries were labeled as gate-to-gate (it covered full process chain for energy production). Background data of inputs and outputs from the steel power plant have been inventoried as follows: consumption of energy and fuels, including: power coal (domestic), natural gas, blast furnace gas and coke oven gas, emission of air pollutants, emissions of particulate, air emissions from stockpiles, wastes, internal transport, and land use.     

Feather eating and its associations with plumage damage and feathers on the floor in commercial farms of laying hens

Feather eating has been associated with feather pecking, which continues to pose economic and welfare problems in egg production. Knowledge on feather eating is limited and studies of feather eating in commercial flocks of laying hens have not been performed previously. Therefore, the main objective was to investigate feather eating and its association with plumage damage and floor feather characteristics in commercial flocks of layers in barn and organic production systems. The study was performed in 13 flocks of barn layers and 17 flocks of organic layers. Each flock was visited at around 32 and 62 weeks of age. During both visits, the plumage condition was assessed and the density of floor feathers recorded. In week 62, droppings and floor feathers were collected. Droppings were examined for presence of feather content, whereas length, downiness and pecking damage were recorded for each floor feather. In week 62, a higher prevalence of hens with poor plumage condition was found in barn (22.2%) compared with organic production systems (7.4%; P<0.001), but the prevalence of droppings with feather content did not differ between the two production systems (8.5% in barn v. 4.3% in organic; P=0.99). Our hypothesis about a positive correlation between feather eating and plumage damage was not supported as no correlation was found between the prevalence of poor plumage condition and the prevalence of droppings with feather content. However, the prevalence of pecking damaged floor feathers was positively correlated both with prevalence of droppings with feather content (P<0.05) and poor plumage condition (P<0.01), indicating a possible association between feather eating and feather pecking. In conclusion, it was confirmed that feather eating occurs on-farm, but feather eating was only found to be positively correlated to the number of floor feathers with pecking damage and not as expected to the prevalence of plumage damage. More research is needed into the sources from where feathers are selected for ingestion, that is, whether they are picked from the floor litter, plucked directly from other hens or dislodged during preening of own feathers.     

A Proposed Set of Ethical Practice Guidelines in the Assessment and Treatment of Pelvic Floor Disorders

The treatment of pelvic floor disorders using biofeedback, behavioral therapies, and other applied psychophysiological treatments has been well documented as effective. Practitioners must take due care to ensure that they practice within the boundaries of what is common practice for their discipline and within the scope of practice allowed by their professional license as outlined by the appropriate state licensing law(s), the ethical principles and practice guidelines and standards for their discipline, and those of the Association of Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback if using a biofeedback assessment or treatment. Being competent to provide a particular treatment does not necessarily make it legal and/or ethical. This paper provides a set of recommended practice guidelines for use in the assessment and treatment of pelvic floor disorders. Please note that they have not at this time been endorsed as an official position of the Association of Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback or any other professional organization.     

基于经会阴实时三维超声评估生物反馈电刺激联合盆底肌锻炼治疗产后盆底功能障碍的临床疗效

摘要 目的：探讨经会阴实时三维超声评估生物反馈电刺激联合盆底肌锻炼治疗产后盆底功能障碍的临床疗效。方法：选择2020年9月至2022年9月我院收治的96例产后盆底功能障碍患者,根据随机数字表法将患者分为两组,对照组（48例）采用盆底肌锻炼治疗,研究组（48例）采用生物反馈电刺激联合盆底肌锻炼治疗。治疗前后采用经会阴实时三维超声检查,对比两组治疗前后的盆底功能障碍调查表（PFDI-20）、盆底障碍影响简易问卷7（PFIQ-7）评分、静息和Valsalva动作状态下的肛提肌超声参数。分析肛提肌超声参数与PFDI-20、PFIQ-7评分的相关性。结果：两组治疗后PFDI-20、PFIQ-7评分,静息和Valsalva动作状态下肛提肌裂孔前后径、肛提肌裂孔左右径、肛提肌裂孔面积较治疗前降低（P＜0.05）,静息时肛提肌厚度较治疗前增加（P＜0.05）。研究组治疗后PFDI-20、PFIQ-7评分,静息和Valsalva动作状态下肛提肌裂孔前后径、肛提肌裂孔左右径、肛提肌裂孔面积低于对照组（P＜0.05）,静息时肛提肌厚度大于对照组（P＜0.05）。静息和Valsalva状态下肛提肌裂孔前后径、肛提肌裂孔左右径、肛提肌裂孔面积与PFDI-20、PFIQ-7评分呈正相关（P＜0.05）,静息状态肛提肌厚度与PFDI-20、PFIQ-7评分呈负相关（P＜0.05）。结论：经生物反馈电刺激联合盆底肌锻炼治疗后肛提肌裂孔大小较治疗前降低,肛提肌厚度较治疗前增加,且与PFDI-20、PFIQ-7评分改善有关,经会阴实时三维超声可客观、有效评价产后盆底功能障碍患者的治疗效果。     

Decline of soil nitrogen mineralization and nitrification during forest conversion of evergreen broad-leaved forest to plantations in the subtropical area of Eastern China

We examined soil nitrogen (N) mineralization and nitrification rates, and soil and forest floor properties in one native forest: evergreen broad-leaved forest (EBLF), one secondary shrubs (SS), and three adjacent plantation forests: Chinese fir plantation (CFP), bamboo plantation (BP) and waxberry groves (WG) in Tiantong National Forest Park, Eastern China. All forests showed seasonal dynamics of N mineralization and nitrification rates. Soil N mineralization rate was highest in EBLF (1.6 ± 0.3 mg-N kg⁻¹ yr⁻¹) and lowest in CFP (0.4 ± 0.1 mg-N kg⁻¹ yr⁻¹). Soil nitrification rate was also highest in EBLF (0.6 ± 0.1 mg-N kg⁻¹ yr⁻¹), but lowest in SS (0.02 ± 0.01 mg-N kg⁻¹ yr⁻¹). During forest conversion of EBLF to SS, CFP, BP and WG, soil N mineralization rate (10.7%, 73%, 40.3% and 69.8%, respectively), soil nitrification rate (94.9%, 32.2%, 33.9% and 39%, respectively), and soil N concentration (50%, 65.4%, 78.9% and 51.9%, respectively) declined significantly. Annual soil N mineralization was positively correlated with total C and N concentrations of surface soil and total N concentration of forest floor, and negatively correlated with soil bulk density, soil pH and C:N ratio of forest floor across the five forests. Annual soil nitrification was positively correlated with total C concentration of surface soil and N concentration of forest floor, and negatively correlated with soil bulk density and forest floor mass. In contrast, annual soil nitrification was not correlated to pH value, total N concentration, C:N ratio of surface soil and total C concentration and C:N ratio of forest floor.     

The impact of state of bladder fullness on tonic and phasic activation of the pelvic floor muscles in women

PurposeWe aimed to determine if state of bladder fullness affects pelvic floor muscle activation in healthy women without urogenital symptoms.Materials and methodsTwenty-three nulliparous, continent female participants were recruited to participate. Women were randomized to begin the protocol with either an empty (EF) or a full (FE) bladder. Tonic and maximal voluntary pelvic floor muscle electromyographic activity were measured in three states of bladder fullness (empty, full and uncomfortably full). Electromyographic signal amplitudes were compared among bladder states using separate two-way repeated-measures analyses of variance including bladder state and test order as main effects as well as the interaction between bladder state and test order.ResultsTonic activity of the pelvic floor muscles was significantly higher in the full and uncomfortably full bladder states compared to when the bladder was empty (p < 0.005). Maximum voluntary electromyographic activation was unaffected by state of bladder fullness (p = 0.713).ConclusionsConsistent with studies in which the bladder was filled through saline infusion, these results suggest that tonic activity of the PFMs is higher when the bladder is full compared to when it is empty. However once the bladder is moderately full, tonic PFM activity does not increase with increases in bladder volume.